However, control over the mass media was, throughout most of the twentieth century, a core tool of repressive governments.
Instead, the web has done precisely the opposite, becoming an almost tailor-built dream tool of repressive governments and increasingly interventionist companies throughout the world.
The series will look at Chinese and Russian hackers, the cyber mercenaries who sell spying tools to repressive regimes, and some of the most important and shocking hacks of the past 10 years.
"Hello, how are you?" Mandela said, smiling at men who would be considered tools of a repressive system by most ANC supporters.
Hacking Team hack casts spotlight on murky world of state surveillance In response to concerns that Hacking Team supplied tools to repressive states which could be used to hack into and spy on almost anyone, Vincenzetti said: "We did [sell tools to Libya] when suddenly it seemed that the Libyans had become our best friends".
So the next time you read an alarmist story about a tech company providing tools to repressive governments that allow it to spy on the Internet activities of its citizens, be a little skeptical.
The massive data dump obtained a number of awkward files for the firm, apparently showing that Hacking Team sold its hacking tools to repressive regimes such as Sudan and Bahrain – despite denials from the firm that it dealt with such nations.
Finally, we can end the use of the games as propaganda tool for repressive regimes by limiting host rights to liberal democracies.
Doesn't it bother you to work for and appear on a television station run by the Iranian government, which many see as a propaganda tool of a repressive regime?
Instead, he argued that technology is the perfect tool for repressive states to control their citizens.
In repressive societies where the law is a tool of repression rather than justice, a "law and order" approach alone won't protect users' rights.
