"The revolution will be Twittered!" declared journalist Andrew
Sullivan after protests erupted in Iran in June 2009. Yet for all
the talk about the democratizing power of the Internet, regimes in
Iran and China are as stable and repressive as ever. In fact,
authoritarian governments are effectively using the Internet to
suppress free speech, hone their surveillance techniques,
disseminate cutting-edge propaganda, and pacify their populations
with digital entertainment. Could the recent Western obsession with
promoting democracy by digital means backfire?
In this spirited book, journalist and social commentator
Evgeny Morozov shows that by falling for the supposedly
democratizing nature of the Internet, Western do-gooders may have
missed how it also entrenches dictators, threatens dissidents, and
makes it harder-not easier-to promote democracy. Buzzwords like
"21st-century statecraft" sound good in PowerPoint presentations,
but the reality is that "digital diplomacy" requires just as much
oversight and consideration as any other kind of diplomacy.
Marshaling compelling evidence, Morozov shows why we must stop
thinking of the Internet and social media as inherently liberating
and why ambitious and seemingly noble initiatives like the
promotion of "Internet freedom" might have disastrous implications
for the future of democracy as a whole.
"The revolution will be Twittered!" declared journalist Andrew
Sullivan after protests erupted in Iran. Yet for all the talk about
the liberalizing force of the internet, regimes in Iran and China
are as stable and repressive as ever. In fact, authoritarian
regimes are effectively using the internet to suppress free speech
and democracy. What's more, the latest research shows that greater
access to information pacifies a population as much as it incites
it to revolution. If we in the West are to promote liberal ideals,
we'll have to do more than fund Facebook.
In this book, blogger and social commentator Evgeny Morozov
tackles these issues with relentless energy and analytical savvy.
Marshalling a compelling set of case studies, he shows why we must
stop thinking of the internet and social media as instant cures for
repression, and how, in some cases, they can even threaten
democracy.