Via slashdot:
The Internet can serve as potent a tool to oppress a national population as it is a way for those oppressed to communicate secretly and foment rebellion against dictatorial authorities, according to a new study.
Widespread assumptions and anecdotal evidence that democratic movements are made stronger by the ability to use Internet technology to share information and communicate covertly are over-optimistic and ignore the Internet’s ability to act as a stick as well as a carrot, according to political-science researcher Martin Karlsson of Orebro University in Sweden.
The ability of an oppress...
