Fora.tv - Live Webcast on The Net Delusion - Feb 7, 2011
The program will be posted soon on the Open Society Foundations website and also on Fora.tv. http://www.soros.org/initiatives/fellowship/events/morozov-book-event-20110207

Crowds surge through the streets of Tunis and Cairo, inspired by a campaign launched on Facebook and drawn to protest sites by text messages. Meanwhile, images of pitched street battles are captured on cellphones and instantly sent around the world. 

For years, policymakers and pundits alike have predicted that dictatorships will collapse under the onslaught of social media.  All the West needed to do, they argued, was unleash the power of the Internet and let a thousand Twitter revolutions bloom.

But Evgeny Morozov, author of The Net Delusion (PublicAffairs) and a former Open Society Fellow, warns us to reject the hype. The Internet, he says, is an uncontrollable and inherently political medium that will frustrate those who believe democracy can be promoted with the push of a button.  

Join a distinguished panel of commentators as they address Morozov's provocative book and offer some contrarian points of their own. Among other issues, the panel will address whether repressive governments have actually benefitted from the web and what activists need to know to avoid the mistakes of the past.

CONTEXT(Help)
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Technology: Oppressor or liberator? »Technology: Oppressor or liberator?
Protagonists »Protagonists
Evgeny Morozov »Evgeny Morozov
Fora.tv - Live Webcast on The Net Delusion - Feb 7, 2011
From the live chat »From the live chat
Panel »Panel
00:08 Utopian expect Internet decentralization transfers to politics »00:08 Utopian expect Internet decentralization transfers to politics
00:11 Digital realism means "get the principles right" (sic) »00:11 Digital realism means "get the principles right" (sic)
00:22 Importance of local knowledge »00:22 Importance of local knowledge
00:26 Tunisia - Egypt? Revolutions are hard to predict in advance »00:26 Tunisia - Egypt? Revolutions are hard to predict in advance
00:33 We shouldn't forget the role of legacy media and their websites »00:33 We shouldn't forget the role of legacy media and their websites
00:37 Muslim brotherhood: were not covered by legacy media »00:37 Muslim brotherhood: were not covered by legacy media
00:38 Are bloggers necessarily dissidents? »00:38 Are bloggers necessarily dissidents?
00:41 Social media used for control (despite Tor and anonymous) »00:41 Social media used for control (despite Tor and anonymous)
00:45 Internet used for distraction, porn, etc »00:45 Internet used for distraction, porn, etc
00:47? 21st century statecraft? What foreign policy? »00:47? 21st century statecraft? What foreign policy?
00:59 - We don't hear about failed Facebook efforts (e.g. Syria) »00:59 - We don't hear about failed Facebook efforts (e.g. Syria)
1:05 Open Society »1:05 Open Society
1:16 "Media studies" as a discipline »1:16 "Media studies" as a discipline
1:20 - American imperialism »1:20 - American imperialism
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