digital-authoritarianism

This chapter critically examines 'The New Digital Age' by Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen, highlighting how the book promotes a technocratic imperialism that aligns Silicon Valley with U.S. geopolitical power. It exposes the banal and dangerous normalization of surveillance, privacy erosion, and the centralization of power under the guise of technological progress, warning that these trends threaten democracy and reinforce authoritarianism globally. The chapter also reflects on Google's transformation from an independent tech culture to a key player in U.S. state power and surveillance.

Part II of 'The Red Web' outlines key episodes and mechanisms in Russia's digital surveillance and control landscape, including the Snowden revelations, Putin's international cyber strategies, and the pervasive monitoring apparatus symbolized by the SORM system. The chapter situates Russia's digital evolution as a tension between authoritarian control inherited from the Soviet era and the rise of a digitally connected, information-hungry population, highlighting the ongoing struggle over the future of the Internet both within Russia and globally.

Chapter 15 explores the Kremlin's efforts to control major Russian digital platforms VKontakte and Yandex amid the political tensions surrounding the Ukraine conflict in 2014. It details the pressure on VKontakte's founder Pavel Durov, his resistance to government demands for censorship and data sharing, his eventual ousting, and the Kremlin's subsequent consolidation of control. The chapter also highlights Putin's public criticism of Yandex's foreign ties, the legal and political threats faced by the company, and the broader implications for Russian internet sovereignty and control over digital media.