The Net Delusion

Oct 7, 2024 4:28 PM

Author:Evgeny Morozov

The Net Delusion

In The Net Delusion: How Not to Liberate the World Evgeny Morozov argues that our utopian, internet-centric thinking holds devastating consequences for the future of democracy.

We were promised that the internet would set us free. From the Middle East's 'twitter revolution' to Facebook activism, technology would spread democracy and bring us together as never before.

We couldn't have been more wrong. In The Net Delusion Evgeny Morozov shows why internet freedom is an illusion. Not only that - in many cases the net is actually helping oppressive regimes to stifle dissent, track dissidents and keep people pacified, with companies such as Google and Amazon helping them do it.

This book shows that free information doesn't mean free people - and that, right now, everyone's liberty is at stake.

'Offers a rare note of wisdom and common sense, on an issue overwhelmed by digital utopians'

  Malcolm Gladwell

'Passionate, admirable and important'

  Observer

'The book is a wake-up call to those who think the internet is the solution to all our problems'

  Daily Telegraph

'A delight ... his demolition job on the embarrassments of "internet freedom" is comprehensive'

  Independent

'A compelling rebuff ... required reading for everyone'

  Sunday Times

'Piercing ... convincing ... timely'

  Financial Times

Evgeny Morozov is a contributing editor to Foreign Policy and runs the magazine's influential and widely-quoted 'Net Effect' blog about the Internet's impact on global politics. Morozov is currently a Yahoo! fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.

Reviews

Evgeny Morozov offers a rare note of wisdom and common sense, on an issue overwhelmed by digital utopians

—— MALCOLM GLADWELL

Gleefully iconoclastic ... not just unfailingly readable: it is also a provocative, enlightening and welcome riposte to the cyber-utopian worldview.

—— The Economist

A delight ... his demolition job on the embarrassments of "internet freedom" is comprehensive ... as we go down the rabbit-hole of WikiLeaks, Morozov's humane and rational lantern will help us land without breaking our legs.

—— Pat Kane , The Independent

A passionate and heavily researched account of the case against the cyber-utopians ... only by becoming "cyber-realists" can we hope to make humane and effective policy.

—— Bryan Appleyard , New Statesman

Evgeny Morozov is wonderfully knowledgeable about the Internet-he seems to have studied every use of it, or every political use, in every country in the world (and to have read all the posts). And he is wonderfully sophisticated and tough-minded about politics. This is a rare combination, and it makes for a powerful argument against the latest versions of technological romanticism. His book should be required reading for every political activist who hopes to change the world on the Internet.

—— Michael Walzer, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

The Net Delusion is considerably more than an assault on political rhetoric ... a war against complacency.

—— Tom Chatfield , Observer

Required reading for all ... a compelling primer and rebuff to the "cyber utopians" ... trenchant and persuasive.

—— John Kampfner , Sunday Times

Lively and combative ... dauntingly well-informed ... injects a welcome dose of common sense into an issue that has been absurdly lacking in it.

—— John Preston , Sunday Telegraph

Piercing...convincing...timely.

—— Ben Hammersley , Financial Times

[M]ore than rewards a respectful reading, not only for the author's impressive knowledge of the internet toolbox...but because of his ability to relate such technological gadgetry to the increasing challenges that are being posed to entrenched authoritarianism

—— James M Murphy , Times Literary Supplement

Selected by the New York Times as one of the 100 Notable Books of 2011

—— New York Times

The most polymathic science writer of our time

—— Peter Forbes , Independent, Books of the Year

An engaging and lively account of an endlessly curious man

—— Independent

A fascinating window into the complex emergent urban future. This book is an extremely sophisticated, often devastatingly witty and ironic, interpretation of what is possible over the next two decades

—— Saskia Sassen (author of TERRITORY, AUTHORITY, RIGHTS)

Throw out your old atlas. The new version is here

—— Walter Kirn (author of UP IN THE AIR)

Kasarda ... and Lindsay convincingly put the airport at the centre of modern urban life

—— Economist

Highly recommended

—— Library Journal

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