“What you don’t hear about is the distinction between digital renegades and digital captives… we need to know how exactly technology influences civic engagement and the propensity to actually go and engage in protest.”
In this cat-and-mouse-themed animation from the RSA, Evgeny Morozov discusses his skepticism of the popular notion that the Internet empowers democracy at all turns. Tracing the current zeitgeist back to the “cyberutopians” of the 90s, he proposes that while social media, particularly Twitter, has enabled protest and rebellion, it has facilitated governments’ efforts toward monitoring such attempts as well. Finally, Morozov warns that the Internet can inspire inaction as much as action, leaving an endless stream of entertainment at our fingertips.
*[This video was originally published by The RSA on Thursday, March 17th, 2011.]
The views expressed in this video are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.
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