The Devil's Long Tail: Religious and Other Radicals in the Internet Marketplace - Couverture rigide

Stevens, Dr David; O'Hara, Kieron

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0199396248 ISBN 13 : 9780199396245

Editeur : Oxford University Press, USA, 2015

Synopsis

The internet may be a utopia for free expression, but it also harbours nihilistic groups and individuals spreading bizarre creeds, unhindered by the risk-averse gatekeepers of the mass media -- and not all are as harmless as the Virtual Church of the Blind Chihuahua or Sexastrianism.

With few entry barriers, ready anonymity and no centralised control, the internet offers wired extremists unprecedented access to a potential global audience of billions. Technology allows us to select the information we wish to receive -- so those of a fanatical bent can filter out moderating voices and ignore countervailing arguments, retreating into a virtual world of their own design that reaffirms their views.

In The Devil's Long Tail, Stevens and O'Hara argue that we misunderstand online extremism if we think intervention is the best way to counter it. Policies designed to disrupt radical networks fail because they ignore the factors that push people to the margins. Extremists are driven less by ideas than by the benefits of participating in a tightly-knit, self-defined, group. Rather, extreme ideas should be left to sink or swim in the internet's marketplace of ideas.

The internet and the web are valuable creations of a free society. Censoring them impoverishes us all while leaving the radical impulse intact.

A propos du livre

À propos de l?auteur

David Stevens (PhD) is Lecturer in the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham. Kieron O'Hara (PhD) is a philosopher and Senior Research Fellow, Dept. of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton. In 2006 they co-authored Inequality.com: Power, Poverty and the Digital Divide.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Oxford University Press, USA
• Date d'édition: 2015
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0199396248
• ISBN 13: 9780199396245
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 288
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Messaggerie Libri; ufficio.anagrafiche@meli.it; ; Via Verdi, 8; Assago Milano; Italie