"Internet use is simply too small to affect the public's consciousness, " Ponomaryov says.
NPR: Russia Under Putin: Echoes of the Soviet Era
2.
But Ponomaryov, the human rights activist, says freedoms such as uncensored access to the Internet are only part of a facade of democracy.
NPR: Russia Under Putin: Echoes of the Soviet Era
3.
"The control Putin is building over the country's corporate sector resembles the kind of fascism instituted by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini or Spain's Francisco Franco, " Ponomaryov says.