Interview: Evgeny Morozov and the net delusion

You are reading this article thanks to the greatest invention of the last 50 years: the internet. The web is often regarded as a panacea for absolutely everything. It is revolutionising the world’s economy. It is changing leisure and entertainment. And it is also a political tool that can liberate oppressed people. Jared Cohen, a former internet guru at the US State Department, once remarked:

‘Any combination of these [digital] tools [Facebook, Google etc.] allows for a greater chance of civil society organizations coming to fruition regardless of how challenging the environment.’

There is nothing that this incredible device can’t do. It is the greatest ever democratiser.

But, a few dissenting voices have risen above the fevered chorus. Evgeny Morozov, author of The Net Delusion, is one such voice. He says that the internet is much misunderstood and not always on the side of good. It has made western governments more powerful [through surveillance], and it has done the same for totalitarian regimes, many of which use this agent of freedom as an instrument of suppression.