But the share of countries classified as “not free” or “partly free” by the democracy watchdog Freedom House has hardly changed over the same period. In the battle between networks and hierarchies, the hierarchies seem to be winning more often than not.
早期拥趸梦想着靠接入互联网就能帮助传播民主。这并没有发生。20世纪90年代末，只有4%的世界人口在使用与联网。如今这一比例是40%。但被民主观察机构自由之家（Freedom House）归类为“不自由”或“部分自由”的国家比例在同一时期并未发生多大变化。在网络和层级之间的战争中，更常获胜的是层级。