Task #1 Evgeny Morozov Blog Post


Evgeny Morozov











  • Full Name: Evgeny Morozov
  • Date of Birth: 1984
  • Nationality: Belarusian-American
  • Education: American University of Bulgaria, Stanford University, Harvard (History of Science PHD)
  • Description: Evgeny Morozov is a Belarusian former citizen of the USSR who emigrated to the USA as writer and researcher and academic who has works in most major American news sources and publications. His main theory/ stance is that of Net-Skepticism, often criticising the idea that the internet has made people 'more free' or bought democracy where there previously was not, instead the internet is an extension of the power of state and corporations that allows people to post on its own benevolence.

  • The term he has coined for this reliance on internet and technology to 'liberate' and 'create democracy' is coined as 'Technology Solutionism' or 'Internet-Centrism' and he generally excercises caution in placing faith in these new, rapidly developing technologies that almost anyone has access to but espcially those who limit the very things one would believe a 'free' internet is upholding.

His writings have also been included in  The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Economist, The Guardian, The New Yorker, New Scientist, The New Republic, Corriere della Sera, Times Literary Supplement, Newsweek International, International Herald Tribune, Boston Review, Slate, San Francisco Chronicle and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. (Wikipedia, 2024)

  1. "The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom" (2011): Morozov challenges the idea that the internet naturally promotes freedom and democracy in this book. He contends that rather than supporting democratic movements, repressive regimes might use digital technologies to tighten their hold on the populace. He also links the creation of this sentiment with the coinciding rise of the internet and colapse of the Soviet Union on the 1990s, which as later discussed in his 'Talks at Google' Interview informs much of his mehtodology behind his works.


  3. "To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism" (2013): Morozov investigates the unforeseen effects of depending too much on technology to address challenging social issues. In his warning against "technological solutionism," he promotes a more critical evaluation of technological advancements rather than seeing the internet as a tool of liberation and absolute freedom to be aware that the distribution of information itself in politically charged and often is done as part of an agenda.

  4. "Big Tech: The Tyrants of Silicon Valley" (2020): Morozov explores the strength and sway that big tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Amazon possess in this book. He looks at the effects of their hegemony over data and digital infrastructure.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oqab5Y0u60M&t=2715s

Morozov discusses much of his past in this interview and how it informed his theories and area of specialisation, obviously he comes from the Soviet Union where citizens lived under a dictatorship, Morozov understands that information can be used against people an to influence them but he identifies that it was not solely cracks that allowed information behind the iron curtain that caused the USSR to collapse though it certainly helped but, it was instead Economics and Political unviability that caused the USSR to collapse. 

He also notes that in the modern day with riots and protests in both Iran and China, where these technolgies are used and viewed differently, it can create disasters in foreign policy where these nations don't view social media for instance in the same way. Where in the west it's just a social platform to share pictures and images as an individual or organisation and not much more, in other places it is seen as a tool of western influence, which wether true or not puts a rather sizeable diplomatic responsibility onto a private company and considerable leverage against governments.



Bibliography

En.wikipedia.org.2024. Evgeny Morozov [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evgeny_Morozov [Accessed 19 February 2024]

Morozov, E., Google,  2011. Authors@Google: Evgeny Morozov. [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oqab5Y0u60M&t=2715s [Accessed 19 February 2024]

Morozov, E. (2020). Big Tech: The Tyrants of Silicon Valley. Custom House.

Morozov, E. (2011). The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom. PublicAffairs.

Morozov, E. (2013). To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism. PublicAffairs.



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