The Toledo branch of the University of Michigan alumni association hosted its first major event in years this week, as roughly 80 people showed up to hear UM law professor Barbara McQuade talk about her new book, Attack From Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America .
As she began speaking Tuesday at the Maumee branch of the Toledo Lucas County Public Library, Ms. McQuade noticed a man in the front row wearing an Ohio State University shirt.
“This shows something right in society,” she said while shaking his hand. “We can have rivalries, we can have friendly rivalries, but we don’t need to be enemies. We can root for Ohio State or we can be right and root for Michigan.”
The crowd laughed, but she explained that she was being serious, going on to express concern about growing animosity across partisan lines and how that has led to the erosion of public trust.
Growing up in the Watergate era, Ms. McQuade came to admire the press’ role in maintaining public accountability. In her time as a journalist, lawyer, and U.S. assistant attorney, she learned the importance of factual accuracy. Yet, now she believes the distinction between fact and opinion has largely disappeared in politics and the media, making true accountability and dialogue nearly impossible.
Ms. McQuade identified two primary factors responsible for this shift: the rise of social media and a shift in campaign strategy.
“Does it feel like over the last six to eight years we’ve all gotten so angry at each other?” she asked. “That’s not an accident.”
She explained that trolls and bots like those referenced in the Mueller report actively work to sow dissent by posing as Americans. The ability to reach an audience of millions enables false information to spread quickly without any fact-checking mechanisms.
Coupled with the shift in campaign strategy away from winning moderate voters and toward mobilizing one’s own base, this has escalated the aggressiveness of political and cultural rhetoric, she said.
“It might be a great way of campaigning,” the professor conceded. “But it’s a terrible way of governing.”
Focusing on differences and encouraging violent rhetoric or physical violence, she said, endangers democracy, security, public safety, and the rule of law.
In the second half of the talk, Ms. McQuade offered possible remedies for these problems, including legal protections for internet user data and regulations on social media algorithms. Although polarization has slowed much legislation in recent years, there has been bipartisan support for these measures. Moreover, state legislatures have been able to pass policies that force companies to adapt their policies.
“If we leave it to the technology companies, we’re doomed,” she cautioned, “because the business of business is business.”
Social media companies have found rage and hatred to be the most effective ways of increasing user engagement, and have leaned into promoting that content, she noted.
Beyond legal remedies to address the lack of regulation or corporate responsibility, she also urged individuals to improve media literacy, adopt a more skeptical approach to the internet, and refuse to take the bait of leaning into a fight.
After taking a few audience questions about generational divides, artificial intelligence, and the Supreme Court, attendees formed a line for autographs, photos, and further discussion with the author. While others discussed how much they enjoyed Ms. McQuade’s demeanor or specific topics, John Wast, who came to the event with his wife, offered a more succinct response.
“It was just a great and very important talk by a very talented, knowledgeable lady,” Mr. Wast said.
Rick Baum, who invited Ms. McQuade and organized the event for the UM alumni association, was thrilled with the large turnout — he and library staff had to find more chairs multiple times to accommodate the crowd.
The talk was just the second major event the alumni association has held since the pandemic, with the first being a meet-and-greet with the incoming freshman class in the area.
“When I said, ‘Let’s get Professor McQuade down here to discuss her new book,’ that was a big hit. I didn’t expect it,” Mr. Baum said. “Usually these things are all about talking about football. I like football as much as the next person, but that kind of dominated what we’ve done.
“I wanted to get some speakers down here.”
In that spirit, the next alumni event scheduled is another author talk with UM English professor and College Dean Anne Curzan on Sept. 26.
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