Evgeny Morozov is an American writer, researcher, and thinker from Belarus, who studies the social and political implications of the Internet.
He is a commentator and a leading thinker on the political aspects of the Internet. He wrote The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom. In addition, he has a syndicated column that is published by Slate, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Corriere della Sera, El Pais, and NRC.
In addition, he is a contributing editor to Foreign Policy and manages the magazine’s blog, “Net Effect.” It discusses the impact of the Internet on global politics.
Education and Career
Evgeny Morozov attended the American University in Bulgaria, and then he moved to Berlin before coming to the United States. He received his PhD in History of Science from Harvard University in May 2018. From 2006 to 2008, he was the Director of New Media at Transitions Online.
In 2008 to 2009, he was a fellow at the Open Society Foundations, and then he became a fellow at Georgetown University from 2009 to 2010. Finally, from 2010 to 2012, he became a visiting scholar at Stanford University and a Schwartz Fellow at the New American Foundation. He was on the board of the Information Program from 2008 to 2012.
Appearances
Evgeny Morozov has had a number of public appearances, including CNN, CBC, SkyNews, France 24, CBS, BBC Radio 4, Reuters TV, Al Jazeera International, BBC World Service, and NPR. He is also a fellow of the TED conference, and he was a speaker at TED Global in 2009.
His research and writings have appeared in The Economist, Newsweek, The Washington Post, The International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, Slate, Le Monde, San Francisco Chronicle, Foreign Policy, Dissent, Boston Review, Project Syndicate, and more.
In addition, his research has been quoted in Los Angeles Times, The Globe and Mail, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Süddeutsche Zeitung, The Washington Post, Die Zeit, El Pais, Le Figaro, Corriera della Sera, AFP, L’Express, Der Standard, The Guardian, Die Zeit, Il Sole 24, Der Spiegel, and more, as well as CNN.com and Bloomberg News.
Published Work
In April 2020, Evgeny Morozov wrote “The Tech Solutions for Coronavirus Take the Surveillance state to the Next Level.” He discusses the divide in thought as to whether the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic will lead to a more human economic system or a techno-totalitarian state.
He goes on to talk about “solutionism,” and how governments use big data to provide solutions rather than fixing what isn’t working. He points to countries requiring citizens to use an app to prove their whereabouts and the trade-offs between privacy and public health.
He has written two books. In 2011, he published The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom, where he explores the intellectual sources of the enthusiasm for the Internet as a catalyst for liberation. He considers this view to be cyber-utopianism, which is the inability to see the darker side of the Internet.
In 2013, he published To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism. In this book, he discusses the concept of solutionism. This involves people using big tech for everything in their daily lives, including to determine how they exercise, and people think they are solving a problem.
Thought
Evgeny Morozov looks at big tech, and he has some skepticism for the idea that the Internet is helping to bring democracy to authoritarian regimes. Instead, he suggests that it can allow for political repression and mass surveillance. It can also be used to spread propaganda.
His books and published works are fascinating and offer words of caution to people who don’t see the potential dangers of the Internet. He points out the potential for the Internet to be used to spread propaganda and to create political repression and mass surveillance.
He finds it to be naïve and counterproductive to try to promote democracy through the Internet. He points out that many think that an open agenda where you can bypass institutions is liberating, but the open agenda creates a false sense of security.
