This chapter explores the development and control of the internet in the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia, highlighting its dual role as a tool for openness and state surveillance. Beginning with cybernetics and early Soviet computing projects, the narrative focuses on the rise of civilian internet networks like Relcom and Glasnet during the Glasnost years. Although these networks were crucial for bypassing censorship during the 1991 coup attempt, the following years saw escalating state intervention—particularly with the adoption of surveillance systems like SORM and stricter regulatory centralization—ultimately limiting internet freedoms and consolidating control under government authority. The chapter underscores the tension between the internet’s potential for empowerment and its exploitation as an instrument of state power.