At one level, we can divide these activities into separate categories based on principles that we connect with fundamental human rights. But at another level, realpolitik has changed in a critical respect. Until recently, communications technologies seemed to favor democracy and put authoritarianism on the defense. Now we must ask whether the internet has created an asymmetric technology risk for democracies that authoritarian governments can counteract more readily than the republican form of government that Franklin’s words urge us to protect.
