This isn’t a pipe dream; it’s a natural next step. The first generation of the internet was enabled by a protocol called TCP/IP. The second generation, or the World Wide Web, was enabled by HTTP, which we use every day. So, why not a new protocol, which is essentially a set of new operating rules?
With Project Liberty, we’ve developed and released an open, decentralized social networking protocol called DSNP. This protocol was designed to return ownership and control of data to individuals, while at the same time, giving developers the opportunity to build amazing new apps utilizing that data, but with our permission and on our terms. DSNP is available to anyone and stewarded by the nonprofit Project Liberty Foundation. And it’s providing the foundation for a new, healthier digital ecosystem. Apps on this new protocol will be interoperable. Our data and our social graphs will be portable. And the platforms of the future would have to accept our terms and conditions for using our data—and not the other way around.
If we can treat the internet’s flaws as an engineering problem and fix them, then we can begin to solve some of the societal problems the internet is creating and making far worse. Most importantly, upgrading the internet will help leverage technology to benefit humanity.
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The platforms of the future will have to accept our terms and conditions for using our data—and not the other way around.
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// Insight #3: Data is personal.
When you hear the word “data,” think “personhood.” We’re now living in a digital age, when everything we do is impacted by technology. We all search the internet. We all shop online. We all have smart devices in our pockets, our cars, and our homes. All of the tools and devices we use scrape our information—reams of information—and hand it over to a few giant platforms that decide what to do with it. And the things they’re doing aren’t optimized for society or humanity; they’re optimized to keep us online, to show us more ads, and to generate more revenue. Yet too often, we think of that data-scraping—if we think of it at all—as just a part of daily life. Too many people accept that “we’re the product,” even though we can break free from this dynamic and access great tech that doesn’t exploit, outrage, and addict us for profit.
We need to merge in our minds the notion of the biological us and the digital us. Big Tech is using their autocratic, centralized surveillance technology to suck out the soul of each of us. These platforms are dehumanizing us. The internet can do wonderful, marvelous, awesome things for humanity—if it’s redesigned. But we need to put human beings at the center. And our technology must be embedded with the values we care about as individuals and as a society.
// Insight #4: A decentralized web is good for prosperity.
Already the Big Five tech companies are worth trillions of dollars. That amount of wealth is unprecedented in human history. And, in the next generation of the internet, that number is undoubtedly going to grow.
So, we know data is valuable.
Now imagine a world where the value we create online is shared with individuals, instead of hoarded by platforms; where we get to decide what to do with our data; and where we get to participate in the value we help create. I believe that a new set of digital property rights would unleash massive economic innovation and growth, generating new ideas, new wealth, and new opportunities at a rate and scale we’ve never seen. This isn’t a matter of stripping wealth from a few companies; it’s a matter of fueling unbelievable growth and progress, not just socially but economically, and giving every person who uses the internet the ability to participate and benefit in new ways.
// Insight #5: Time is of the essence.
Look at what’s happening. The Big Five tech companies are all elbowing each other out of the way to be the dominant player in the next phase of this next big thing. This is especially clear now that we’ve entered the AI age. If they have their way, we’ll all double down on the existing model of the internet—giving these centralized platforms more control, more data, and more power with generative AI. We’ll be exploited and excluded even further.
We need to make a different choice—and we need to make it soon. If you ask somebody right now, Do you think your kids will have a better life than you?, polls show that most people will say no. If you ask the kids, they definitely don’t think their lives are going to be better than their parents’ lives. We are dangerously off course. If we don’t seize the moment, we’re going to be dragged into a future that none of us want.
Sometimes it takes a crisis for people to focus on and fix a problem. I see crises as opportunities, and I think that’s where we are right now. I am hugely optimistic that if we seize this moment to redesign the internet—if we prioritize people; give individuals agency and control over their data; and return personhood to people—I believe our best days are before us.
Getting there is, indeed, our biggest fight. And I hope you’ll join me in it.
To go deeper, you can pre-order Our Biggest Fight: Reclaiming Liberty, Humanity, and Dignity in the Digital Age here.
With gratitude,
Frank H. McCourt
Founder of Project Liberty
