Why Does Digital Freedom Matter?
The reasons for realignment.
A defense of lost causes
A lot of the negative feedback I receive is not that digital freedom is undesirable, but generally that it’s impossible. Or at least, that it’s too difficult to be worth considering. In truth, these are very valid criticisms. At best, digital freedom is very far down the list of people’s pressing concerns of today. It is incredibly difficult to argue that a great deal of effort (and opportunity costs) needs to be taken on to radically reinvent our digital landscape. What could possibly justify the immense challenge on so many fronts just to begin making incremental change?
The purpose of this project, is not to single-handedly succeed at resolving all the massive issues at play. It is plain to see that this is impossible. Instead it is to act as (one of many) guideposts for others to start forging a better path. We have a once-in-a-century opportunity to make an impact on the future of technology from the bottom-up. It is of utmost importance that we take the time to evaluate how to avoid the dire pitfalls and build a better future. This chance is worth seizing. It is highly unlikely that there will be an opportunity this good ever again if the present sentiments of defeatism and apathy take hold.
Digital freedom is not the most important cause, but it has profound impacts on almost every other cause. As digital systems have infiltrated so many aspects of our lives, it’s important to consider how they can be used and abused.. Unless one decides to opt-out entirely, there will always be a degree of impact that must be understood to make optimal choices. A defeatist will tell you that these changes are inevitable and unavoidable. This is the wrong mindset because there are alternatives to an all-or-nothing approach.
For the same reason a great deal of people won’t decide to forsake electricity entirely, there is a phenomenal amount of good that can come from adopting powerful tools. But for all the reasons people are becoming suspicious of corporate social media, we must be chiefly concerned with how these powerful systems can be weaponized against ourselves and others. The goal is not to fight change itself, but take an active role in participating in shaping that change. Because if we refuse to, we will entirely give up our digital sovereignty individually, and collectively… and who knows what else.
Digital consolidation is consolidation of everything else
One of the most underestimated forces in our day is how consolidated power in the technology space impacts almost every other issue. The most blatant example is the fact that when there are few viable online platforms, very little has to change for there to be rampant censorship and manipulation. In an environment with more competition and interoperability, there would be less problems and a better experience overall. As more and more people live a majority of their lives locked within corporate digital platforms, their options become drastically reduced.
We are already seeing how digital platforms are themselves ushering in Orwellian doublespeak, as remake new words to express things outside the automated censors. This effect is only going to have more profound impacts as we allow our entire digital landscape to be dictated by a handful of mega-corporations. Since digital platforms are already having a significant impact on culture, a powerful feedback loop is already in effect. The cultural changes from our digital decisions have impacts on our options to make change in the future. When we abandon the free and open web, in favor of a single corporate controlled “digital town square” we doom the future of free expression no matter who holds the reigns.
This applies to hardware as well. How many people are constantly frustrated with how badly smartphones have impacted their lives, yet feel powerless to address it? This is beyond mere addiction. As society centers itself around technological assumptions, those assumptions become hard requirements very quickly. There is no reason to believe this will end with smartphones. If we do not take the time to radically reassert individual autonomy separate from technological choices, things can get grim as fast as you can say ‘singularity’.
This is the secret behind the true importance of fighting for digital liberty. Not only can we avoid future dangers, but we can also correct many serious problems in the present day. With a truly holistic and bottom-up approach for building a new digital foundation, fixing problems that seem impossible to resolve becomes much more viable. Suddenly issues such as e-waste, energy efficiency, and digital control are all much easier to tackle with pragmatic solutions. The opportunities are endless when it comes to taking the time to learn, create, and share not just alternatives …but entirely new paradigms.
Crucial objectives
It’s all well and good to wish for a better future, but it needs to be defined. Clear parameters are required to identify current problems and plan new directions. The only constraints on our ability to create a free cyberspace are our collective drive and creativity. There are many levels of detail that can go into this, but it’s clear that the primary objectives should at least be: privacy, security, and autonomy.
Privacy
Privacy is not hiding. It’s about informed choice over one’s information. Everyone deserves a surveillance-free digital experience to effectively accomplish what they need. Participation in society, or acquiring basic needs should not require one to give up their reasonable expectations of personal privacy. The severe disks of weaponizing personal information individually and at scale are only beginning to become more widely understood. It is a guarantee that there are far more disastrous and un-intuitive impacts that are yet to be discovered.
Security
Making compromises on security will always cause problems down the road. Having high standards for verifiable security is effectively the starting point of making any kind of guarantees at all. Reasonable precautions need to be taken to ensure systems function as expected. A strong security environment can be a powerful public good that can make cyberspace a great deal better than it currently can be.
Autonomy
Digital Autonomy is the cornerstone of a pro-human digital future. Devices and systems must work for their operators not against or on them. This requires radical transparency and deliberate decisions to avoid imposing artificial limitations or restrictions. By taking the “protocols not platforms” paradigm to the hardware level, people can more freely choose to use or refuse all kinds of options. Personal computing needs to become even more personal, not something imposed from outside forces.
Other useful considerations
These really are just a starting point. Since the road is long it makes sense to consider other objectives as well. Elegance should be a priority to make systems maximally usable. Efficiency should be prized as it’s own end. Robustness can be a focus to enhance reliability. As you can see, even with all these factors there are boundless opportunities to learn and improve. The truth is that there is no finish line, it’s all about constantly refining things for the better.
Playing the long game
At the simplest level, a radical shift in our cultural understanding and attitudes surrounding technology is a must. We can no longer afford to naively accept impositions from corporations or governments as if they have no consequences. Above all, education and outreach are essential to addressing this long campaign across time. Perfectionism should be a guiding star and not a obstacle to making change. People from all walks of live will have meaningful feedback on how things can be made better. The better we become at properly incorporating that feedback, the better our digital future will be.
There are a wide variety of barriers to making this kind of radical change across time. It may sound entirely unreasonable economically. This challenge is something that needs to be confronted with sober ambition. Transforming the entire foundation of our digital experience will always take a great deal of time. Thankfully, there will be significant improvements along the way. Even moderate approaches towards this ideal can have phenomenal impact on people’s very lives. We must nurture the garden of cyberspace to flourish a bountiful fruits of innovation, lest we let it wither into a thorny maze of tyranny.
Excellent post, Gabe. And thanks for liking my comment on Sarah's. My feeling about both issues, bodily health and communications hearth, is that it has to start by creating the supplemental economy that supports it locally.
I don't know if you saw my conversation with Mathew on the G&E thread. I really liked your comments about scams and theft, and whether Bitcoin prevents them. Next week, after my daughters are gone, I'm going to post an episode on Bitcoin vs. the Caret, comparing the two systems. They serve different purposes, of course, and aren't redundant or mutually exclusive. But there's a hell of a lot of energy being put into the former and mostly just me sorting through the latter. So my goal would be to change that.
I also don't know if you've seen my first chapter that I posted from the book. So far it's gotten mostly men and one woman who all want to jump to arguing about the solution. My first book was going to be about the solution, when I realized that my process of discovering and defining the problem needed to be the first step. So if you happen to be at the first chapter yet, I could use a comment there that I could like--so far I have one ;-)
But none of this is meant to defer planning your hearth. I have no doubt that our connection isn't accidental and that you and your perceptive, knowledgable and passionate grasp of this aspect is absolutely key to how it's going to happen.
Couldn't possible agree more!! Well said.