“We need to start seeing privacy as a commons - as some kind of a public good that can get depleted as too many people treat it carelessly or abandon it too eagerly. What is privacy for? This question needs an urgent answer.” PeopleNeedsKindAnswersSeeingTreatsPrivacyAbandonUrgentPublic Good Author:Evgeny Morozov
“I draw a distinction between freedom of the internet and freedom via the internet. In the first case, it's making sure cyberspace is not over regulated and people can say what they want without fear of repercussions. But that's different from this freedom via the internet notion, which is often touted by all sorts of conservatives and neoconservatives who want young people in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world to use Facebook and Twitter and then go oppose their governments.” PeopleWorldDifferentInternetElsewhere Author:Evgeny Morozov
“Many of us were a little to early to assume that the most logical uses of the internet in authoritarian states would be to empower people. And to force them towards participation in politics. If you look at most authoritarian states, they are very grim places to live in. The only good thing about it is fast internet. That's the only way you can find some meaning in an otherwise very dark and gloomy life.” PeopleDarkInternetAssumingGood ThingsEmpoweringLogicalParticipationGrimGloomy Author:Evgeny Morozov
“With the internet we are facing more or less a very similar story. It does offer virtually limitless access to entertainment and for many people living in extremely depressing conditions in authoritarian states, it does provide a vehicle for getting by. For many oppositional movements, the internet, while providing the opportunity to distribute information more quickly and cheaper, may have actually made their struggle more difficult in the long run.” PeopleLongRunningOpportunityDifficultStruggleInternetVehicleDepressingLimitless Author:Evgeny Morozov
“My hunch is that people often affiliate with causes online for selfish and narcissistic purposes. Sometimes, it may be as simple as trying to impress their online friends, and once you have fashioned that identity, there is very little reason to actually do anything else.” PeopleTryingMayLittlesSometimesReasonPurposeCausesSimpleIdentitySelfishOnlineImpressNarcissisticHunches Author:Evgeny Morozov
“Dictators aren't stupid, or regimes could be toppled easily by young people mobilizing on Facebook.” PeopleYoungStupidRegimesDictator Author:Evgeny Morozov
“A lot of the geeks in Silicon Valley will tell you they no longer believe in the ability of policymakers in Washington to accomplish anything. They don't understand why people end up in politics; they would do much more good for the world if they worked at Google or Facebook.” PeopleIfsWorldBelieveEndsAbilityAccomplishValleysGoogleGeekSiliconSilicon Valley Author:Evgeny Morozov
“As befits Silicon Valley, 'big data' is mostly big hype, but there is one possibility with genuine potential: that it might one day bring loans - and credit histories - to millions of people who currently lack access to them.” PeopleBigsMightMillionsPossibilityOne DayCreditAccessGenuineDataValleysLoanHypeSiliconSilicon Valley Author:Evgeny Morozov
“It's true that virtually all new technologies do trigger what sociologists would call 'moral panics,' that there are a lot of people who are concerned with the possible political and social consequences, and that this has been true throughout the ages.” PeopleHas BeensAgePoliticalSocialMoralTechnologyConsequenceConcernedPanicTriggersNew TechnologySociologists Author:Evgeny Morozov
“My fear is that many institutions will eventually alter how they treat people who refuse to self-track. There are all sorts of political and moral implications here, and I'm not sure that we have grappled with any of them.” PeopleSelfPoliticalMoralTreatsInstitutionsTrackRefuseNot SureImplications Author:Evgeny Morozov
“Russian young people spend countless hours online downloading videos and having a very nice digital entertainment lifestyle, which does not necessarily turn them into the next Che Guevara.” PeopleDoeYoungTurnsNextHoursNiceEntertainmentLifestyleVideoDigitalOnlineVery Nice Author:Evgeny Morozov
“The reason why there is more pessimism about technology in Europe has to do with history, the use of databases to keep track of people in the camps, ecological disasters.” PeopleReasonUseTechnologyEuropeTrackDisasterReason WhyPessimismCampsEcologicalDatabases Author:Evgeny Morozov
“There are good reasons why we don't want everyone to learn nuclear physics, medicine or how financial markets work. Our entire modern project has been about delegating power over us to skilled people who want to do the work and be rewarded accordingly.” PeopleWantHas BeensReasonModernProjectsMedicineFinancialNuclearPhysicsReason WhyFinancial MarketsNuclear Physics Author:Evgeny Morozov
“There is this absurd assumption that the revitalisation of the public sphere is always a good thing. I think people tend to confuse 'civic' and 'civil,' and they believe that everything that is done by citizens is necessarily a good thing because you build a network, an association.” PeopleThinkingBelieveDoneCitizensGood ThingsAbsurdAssumptionSpheresAssociationCivics Author:Evgeny Morozov
“There is this group of people who love innovation. Those people want to innovate, and they think the Internet is a wonderful tool for innovation, which is true. But you also have to remember that much of that innovation is constrained within the realities of the foreign policy.” PeopleThinkingWantRealityRememberWonderfulGroupsPolicyInternetToolsInnovationForeign Policy Author:Evgeny Morozov
“When someone at the State Department proclaims Facebook to be the most organic tool for promoting democracy the world has ever seen - that's a direct quote - it may help in the short run by getting more people onto Facebook by making it more popular with dissidents.” PeopleWorldMayStatesHelpingRunningDemocracyToolsDirectDepartmentPromotingDissidents Author:Evgeny Morozov
“[People] somehow assume that the Internet is going to be the catalyst of change that will push young people into the streets, while in fact it may actually be the new opium for the masses which will keep the same people in their rooms downloading pornography.” PeopleMayFactsInspirationYoungMotivationRoomsStreetsInternetMassAssumingPornographyCatalystOpium Author:Evgeny Morozov
“When we get the remote Russian village online, what will get people to the Internet is not going to be reports from Human Rights Watch. It's going to be pornography, 'Sex and the City,' or maybe funny videos of cats.” PeopleHumansSexCitiesWatchesRightsInternetCatHuman RightsVideoReportsOnlineVillagePornographySex And The CityFunny Videos Author:Evgeny Morozov
