Protocols, Not Platforms: A Technological Approach to Free Speech (2019)
<i>&quot;After a decade or so of the general sentiment being in favor of the internet and social media as a way to enable more speech and improve the marketplace of ideas, in the last few years the view has shifted dramatically—now it seems that almost no one is happy.&quot;</i><p>10 or 15 years ago people looked at web 1.0, saw many good communities and valuable conversations and said &quot;we need to protect free speech&quot;.<p>Today people looks at Twitter&#x2F;Facebook&#x2F;YouTube&#x2F;Reddit, see mismanaged cesspools and declare that we need centralized speech control.<p>This is understandable, but highly reactionary and irrational. Speech control is facilitated by big tech at their own discretion. Advocating for more of it means you&#x27;re advocating for giving more power to the companies who fucked up the system in the first place.