By focusing on Internet policy in Russia and Ukraine, this article addresses the potential and the impact of the Internet on increasing freedom in authoritarian regimes. Traditonally, authoritarian governments have responded to the It revolution by censoring sources of free information. The evidence of the case-studies
shows that the It revolution cannot automatically lead to more freedom and better democracy, but they also show the danger of authoritarian governments learning how to appropriate the benefits of the Internet in order to increase their control over the public information space.