On November 9, 1989, East Germans learned that they were free to cross the country’s borders, and they did. And so, to our great surprise, the Cold War came, bit by bit, to an end. A few years after that, this thing called the World Wide Web emerged from the laboratories of the scientists and engineers and began to change things. Walls were coming down. Borders remained, but it seemed as if some of those borders might become more permeable. Many believed that the Internet would promote open, rational discussion across boundaries, free from the oversight of bureaucrats or tyrants, enabling democracy and promoting reconciliation.
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