Digital dictatorship

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Politics, News, News Commentary, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.5 • 11.1K Ratings

🗓️ 10 June 2021

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The internet was first conceived as a tool to promote free expression, to foster and enliven debate, and to strengthen democratic ideals. But it didn’t quite work out that way. In this episode, Vox’s Zack Beauchamp talks with Steven Feldstein, author of The Rise of Digital Repression, about how governing regimes use digital technology to repress their citizens; the threats posed by surveillance, disinformation, and censorship; and how democracies can backslide into authoritarianism. Host: Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp), Senior Correspondent, Vox Guest: Steven Feldstein (@SteveJFeldstein), Author; senior fellow, Carnegie Endowment References: The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance by Steven Feldstein (Oxford University Press; 2021) “Maria Ressa: Philippine journalist found guilty of cyber libel” (June 15, 2020; BBC) “[Senator Leila] De Lima’s four-year struggle in prison” by Vince Ferreras (Mar 16; CNN Philippines) “Sandvine Technology Used to Censor the Web in More Than a Dozen Nations” by Ryan Gallagher (Oct. 8, 2020; Bloomberg) “Social media is rotting democracy from within” by Zack Beauchamp (Jan. 22, 2019; Vox) Enjoyed this episode? Rate Vox Conversations ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of Vox Conversations by subscribing in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by: Producer: Erikk Geannikis Editor: Amy Drozdowska Engineer: Paul Robert Mounsey VP, Vox Audio: Liz Kelly Nelson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:36.9	Comparachannel 4.com slash verify.
0:40.5	Hey, this is Zach Beachham and I'm a senior correspondent at Vox who covers global politics,
0:44.8	ideology and democracy.
0:46.8	And this week I'm your host for Vox Conversations.
0:56.8	Ten years ago the internet was supposed to be a tremendous challenge for dictators.
1:01.9	People thought it would be this unstoppable force, freeing information, giving protesters
1:06.4	an ability to organize in a way that they didn't have previously and governments couldn't
1:10.3	compete with.
1:11.6	But that's not actually what happened.
1:13.4	Instead, authoritarians flipped the script.
1:15.6	They figured out a way to turn the web into an even more effective tool for maintaining
1:20.3	their hold on power and repressing their citizens.
1:23.7	So how did that happen?
1:24.9	How did things work out this way?
1:27.2	That question is at the heart of a new book by Stephen Feldstein.
1:30.5	Stephen's a Carnegie Endowment senior fellow and he's the author of the Rise of Digital Repression.
1:35.0	It's a book that examines the many tools authoritarian regimes and anti-democratic populists have
1:39.6	developed for silencing dissent.
	...

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