Social media’s democratizing promise reversed into authoritarian crackdowns and troll-army suppression
Evidence
The tech industry dismissed Morozov as a crank. In 2013 he complained that Silicon Valley was a “Teflon industry”: “No matter how much dirt one throws at it, nothing seems to stick.” But by 2016, his words seemed prescient. The Arab Spring had largely ended with authoritarian retrenchment. The Iranian Green Movement, ubiquitous on YouTube, had fizzled. Social media platforms, far from empowering dissidents, cracked down on activists’ accounts while regimes like Saudi Arabia deployed “troll armies” to suppress dissent. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 490
Categorization
Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims
- CANDY: The phrase ‘Teflon industry’ for Silicon Valley’s dirt-repellent reputation is a quick, shareable image.