On Shifting Ground

After Twitter was used as an organizing tool in the protests following the disputed 2009 reelection of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran, the Internet was widely praised as a game-changer for democratic movements. But Evgeny Morozov argues that authoritarian regimes are as strong as ever, and use the Internet to their advantage by restricting speech, spying on dissidents, and publishing propaganda. Mr. Morozov will discuss how the spread of new media around the world should not necessarily be seen as a force for democracy, and how Western hopes for digital revolution could, in fact, backfire.

Direct download: 2_10_11_Evgeny_Morozov.mp3
Category: -- posted at: 7:00pm PDT

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