Name: The net delusion
ISBN: 9781610391061

The net delusion

In this spirited book, journalist and social commentator Evgeny Morozov shows that by falling for the supposedly democratizing nature of the Internet, Western do-gooders may have missed how it also entrenches dictators, threatens dissidents, and makes it harder—not easier—to promote democracy. / from the: official website

What Hacker News says

johnchristopherApr 2019

> And we should all pretend that the internet resolves conflicts at any level?

A lot of people believe so and unfortunately some policy-makers as well. I thought the book https://www.amazon.com/Net-Delusion-Dark-Internet-Freedom/dp... made a good argument against cyber-utopianism.

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Caveman_CoderOct 2017

> A smart-city architecture allows “better” information-sharing, strong identity management, better blanket surveillance as well as targeted surveillance, it benefits law-enforcement with better access to location tracking.

> In conclusion, one doesn’t have to wear a tinfoil hat to understand that these solutions will swing both ways. And some are going to get hurt. To all those who think smart-cities will liberate humanity from repressive regimes, please think again.

For a deeper perspective on this point, I'd highly recommend reading "The Net Delusion" by Evgeny Morozov [1]. He focuses on the moral/ethical/political/sociological aspects of modern technological change and systems that other optimistic authors intentionally fail to cover.

> Smart cities implemented over complex self serving bureaucratic processes can become an electronic manifestation of stupidity written in code.

This sentence immediately reminded me of Kafka's "The Castle."

The future could be either empowering or oppressive, or both to some degree, depending largely on how we legislatively control the technological systems we're building.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Net-Delusion-Dark-Internet-Freedom/dp...

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johnchristopherJun 2016

The internet is a tool, not a political method.

I think you'll find this book interesting:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jan/09/net-delusion-m... http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/books/review/Siegel-t.html...

https://www.amazon.com/Net-Delusion-Dark-Internet-Freedom/dp...

> But the internet allows people on the so called fringe to see that they may not be the fringe after all.

Not really, the internet also has that loudest voice syndrom.

> You can say anything online and that widens the scope of what is considered acceptable discourse.

Or you get drowned in an endless sea of information, a dot in the noisegraph.

> Notice how the media tries to black out Trump's insanity but it gets so much attention on social media that they're forced to cover his tweets.

Can't comment on that as I don't live in the US :/ but it's an interesting point. How effecient can they really be at hiding something vs ignoring it.

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CaptainZappSep 2014

I'd wager that the difference is that your chances in the US, Australia, or the UK that a bunch of thugs kicks in your door at three am, grabs you and disappears you forever are a whole lot smaller than in some of the real oppressive countries.

I'm not claiming that everything is perfect in those western countries, but compared to them there are some truly evil regimes around in countries where absolutely no checks and balances exists to rein abuse in.

While this may get me down-voted into oblivion, since the author may be easily one of the most hated people in the tech world, I recommend Evgeny Morozovs "The Net Delusion" which is a quite insightful take on the abuse of tech by oppressive regimes.

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zalewApr 2013

From a few recent posts around here I guess he's not very liked in the tech bubble circles, but in case anyone is interested in reading a tiny bit more about this topic, I recommend Morozov's book http://www.amazon.com/The-Net-Delusion-Internet-Freedom/dp/1...

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zalewJan 2013

this book could possibly change a bit your utopian view of liberating through radio waves and so. especially the historic examples about communism times in europe.

http://www.amazon.com/Net-Delusion-Dark-Internet-Freedom/dp/...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jan/09/net-delusion-mor...

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/books/review/Siegel-t.htm...

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