Liberal visionaries thought of the internet as being able to democratise authoritarian states, to revitalise democracies, and to give birth to a cosmopolitan consciousness around the globe. However, empirical studies do not lend much support to these claims. Authoritarian states have managed to sustain their power in cyberspace. They are increasingly making use of the internet for the purposes of surveillance and propaganda. In democratic societies, a rather small circle of actors is dominating political discussions, no matter if they are taking place offline or online. A change towards mass participation in politics is hardly on the horizon. Finally, there is transnational cooperation but also transnational conflict in cyberspace. What follows is that cyberspace does not solve political problems. Quite the contrary, it calls for political regulation itself.