Abstract
The release of this book coincides with the ‘Arab spring’ and I consider this a timely and much-needed critique of the hype surrounding the internet’s supposed emancipatory power. A reviewer on Amazon.co.uk, giving minimal rating, said ‘the whole thesis of this book has been completely undermined by events in the Arab world.’ This is precisely the misguided popular belief that the author aims to challenge. Cyber-utopianism and internet-centrism created ‘the net delusion’ that hinders effective policymaking in the West to promote democracy and human rights.
The book is written based on the author’s insights in policymaking and observation of online activism in authoritarian states, mostly Iran, Russia and China. Morozov also occasionally refers to published research to support his arguments, but no original empirical studies have been conducted. Written without academic pretensions, the book is highly accessible to the general public, and particularly useful to policymakers, those interested in international relations, activists and IT industry players. The book begins with a demystification of Iran’s so-called Twitter Revolution in 2009. Very few Iranians were actually tweeting about the protest, and the state arrested dissidents identified through photos and videos posted on the same social media that were initially claimed to have empowered them.
In chapter two, Morozov highlights the problem of using Cold War metaphors to describe the war for internet freedom. It creates the misleading equation of information liberalization with political democratization. The popular account of the Cold War also prioritizes the roles of information technologies and dissidents, but downplays other structural and historical factors that contributed to the end of the Soviet Union, falling into the trap of technological determinism. The author furthers his arguments on the problematic notion of ‘internet freedom’ in chapters eight and nine. He also highlights the consequences of conflating US private internet companies’ profit-making motives with commitment to human rights, freedom and democracy. Not only are they unreliable, but politicization of their services also creates the impression in authoritarian states that it is the American’s tool for interfering with other countries’ internal affairs. This results in heightened internet control and crackdowns, making life more challenging for political activism.
Chapter three is premised upon the safety-valve theory and argues that the cheap and easily available online entertainments function to distract and dampen antigovernment sentiments. Chapter four focuses on the issue of internet censorship. In chapters five and six, several examples are given to show how authoritarian regimes have effectively incorporated the new media to enhance their propaganda and surveillance efforts. Chapter seven sheds light on the usefulness of forming online groups for activism and their impacts on established offline activism. The last two chapters reiterate the arguments that the internet has no inherent democratic effects and as an evolving technology, its outcomes are highly unpredictable and contingent upon local socio-cultural contexts. Blind faith in modern technologies’ capabilities to solve all social problems is dangerous as it fails to engage with the root causes of those problems.
Narratives of people power enabled by social media created by the West are good stories that most people enjoy and the media love. Hence, the importance of this book lies in its focus on the less-reported side of online activism. For instance, the internet is used by some who oppose democratization, such as extreme nationalists, terrorists and racists. It also strengthens states’ power, and online surveillance puts activists at greater risk. Although it is not new to argue that the impact of the internet is culturally contingent and it is naïve to believe that technology is ‘the ultimate liberator’ (p.6), what Morozov does is helpful as he offers readers a more critical reading of recent examples of online activism. While debunking the myth that advanced information technology is inherently antithetical to authoritarian states, the author also exposes western arrogance about their own technological creations that can be used to solve literally all problems.
Morozov argues that the West’s inflated optimism in the transformative power of the internet is often fostered by media portrayals of a few outspoken activists allegedly empowered by the internet who are ‘extremely unrepresentative parts for the whole’ (p.268). If there are only a few people campaigning for democracy, why should their needs or opinion being given priority over the majority who are content with the state? Choosing to help the selected few vocal activists just because they favour western ideologies seems to me rather undemocratic. It might be easy to simply label the majority as victims of safety-valves, distracted by online pornography and cheap entertainment, but who are we to speak for so many ordinary people living their everyday lives on the ground? Talking about Soviet dissidents, Morozov argues that, ‘at some point, even Sakharov . . . felt extremely ambivalent about letting people rule themselves; what many of them really wanted was better-run communism’ (p.72). Perhaps the most constructive way to look at the role of the internet, as suggested by Zheng (2008), is not to subscribe to the zero-sum argument between the state and society. Looking at China, Zheng argues that although the communist party still remains in power, the internet has no doubt contributed to the expansion of political liberalization, pushing the limits of expression, and promoting government transparency and greater accountability. This represents a win-win situation for both state and society as improved governance benefits both parties.
The book is not very reader friendly, as the book’s introduction offers no real introduction to the 11 chapters in the book. It does not help even when looking at the contents page because of the author’s deliberate use of ‘playful’ words for most of the chapter titles and some titles assumed prior knowledge on the part of readers. The same style is used for most of the subheadings in each chapter. Despite the writing style, the book is instructive and thought provoking.