Democracies are adopting authoritarian tools and cracking down on dissent. Technologies that once empowered citizens are now consolidating control.

When the internet went mainstream at the turn of the twenty-first century, it was widely celebrated as a revolutionary force for freedom and democracy. Its decentralized architecture promised to empower individuals, expand free expression, and weaken the grip of authoritarian states. Many believed that open information flows would make censorship obsolete and repression impossible to maintain.

That optimism has not merely faded — it has been decisively overturned. The same technologies once hailed as instruments of liberation are now being repurposed as tools of surveillance, censorship, and control. What is unfolding is not a sudden collapse of digital freedom, but a slow, structural transformation of the internet itself — one that is quietly reshaping how power operates in the digital age.

Crucially, this shift is not confined to authoritarian regimes. It is increasingly spreading into liberal democracies that once saw themselves as custodians of an open and global internet.

A Global Recession of Digital FreedomA Global Recession of Digital Freedom

How the West Is Quietly Adopting Authoritarian ToolsHow the West Is Quietly Adopting Authoritarian Tools

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