The Declaration of Digital Independence

Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia, has parted ways with his original creation because -- as it is now often said -- 'the inmates are running the asylum.'

Wikipedia has become a conflicted platform where many pages are largely controlled by special interest agenda editors and deeply-entrenched ideological parties.

Beyond Wikipedia, there are also serious and growing issues with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other platforms controlling information, profiting off the personal data of users, and more.

Sanger is among those who believe it's time for a "Declaration of Digital Independence."

Using new technology, he and others believe it is possible for members of the general public to regain control of their own personal data and of the information they wish to access on the Internet.

Learn about the new Wikipedia alternative: Everipedia

They believe it is a battle for the ages; a battle for our technological human rights.

If you're interested in learning more, you can read about it here:

The Declaration of Digital Independence

Humanity has been contemptuously used by vast digital empires. Thus it is now necessary to replace these empires with decentralized networks of independent individuals, as in the first decades of the Internet. As our participation has been voluntary, no one doubts our right to take this step. But if we are to persuade as many people as possible to join together and make reformed networks possible, we should declare our reasons for wanting to replace the old.

We declare that we have unalienable digital rights, rights that define how information that we individually own may or may not be treated by others, and that among these rights are free speech, privacy, and security. Since the proprietary, centralized architecture of the Internet at present has induced most of us to abandon these rights, however reluctantly or cynically, we ought to demand a new system that respects them properly. The difficulty and divisiveness of wholesale reform means that this task is not to be undertaken lightly. For years we have approved of and even celebrated enterprise as it has profited from our communication and labor without compensation to us. But it has become abundantly clear more recently that a callous, secretive, controlling, and exploitative animus guides the centralized networks of the Internet and the corporations behind them.

Read the rest of the "Declaration of Digital Independence" by clicking the link below.

https://larrysanger.org/2019/06/declaration-of-digital-independence/