Taking Back the Web with Decentralization: 2023 in Review – EFF
When a system becomes too tightly-controlled and centralized, the people being squeezed tend to push back to reclaim their lost autonomy. The internet is no exception. While the internet began as a loose affiliation of universities and government bodies, that emergent digital commons has been increasingly privatized and consolidated into a handful of walled gardens. Their names are too often made synonymous with the internet, as they fight for the data and eyeballs of their users.
In the past few years, there's been anaccelerating swing back toward decentralization. Users are fed up with the concentration of power, and the prevalence of privacy and free expression violations, and many users are fleeing to smaller, independently operated projects.
This momentum wasnt only seen in the growth of new social media projects. Other exciting projects have emerged this year, and public policy is adapting.
After Elon Musk acquired Twitter (now X) at the end of 2022, many people moved to various corners of the IndieWeb at an unprecedented rate. It turns out those were just the cracks before the dam burst this year. 2023 was defined as much by the ascent of federated microblogging as it was by the descent of X as a platform. These users didn't just want a drop-in replacement for twitter, they wanted to break the major social media platform model for good by forcing hosts to compete on service and respect.
The other major development in the fediverse came from a seemingly unlikely sourceMeta.
This momentum at the start of the year was principally seen in the fediverse, with Mastodon. This software project filled the microblogging niche for users leaving Twitter, while conveniently being one of the most mature projects using the ActivityPub protocol, the basic building block at the heart of interoperability in the many fediverse services.
Filling a similar niche, but built on the privately developed Authenticated Transfer (AT) Protocol, Bluesky also sawrapid growth despite remaining invite-only and not-yet being open to interoperating until next year. Projects like Bridgy Fed are already working to connect Bluesky to the broader federated ecosystem, and show some promise of a future where we dont have to choose between using the tools and sites we prefer and connecting to friends, family, and many others.
The other major development in the fediverse came from a seemingly unlikely sourceMeta. Meta owns Facebook and Instagram, which have gone to great lengths to control user dataeven invoking privacy-washing claims to maintain their walled gardens. So Metaslaunch of Threads in July, a new microblogging site using the fediverses ActivityPub protocol, was surprising. After an initial break-out success, thanks to bringing Instagram users into the new service, Threads is already many times larger than the fediverse and Bluesky combined. While such a large site could mean federated microblogging joins federated direct messages (email) in the mainstream, Threads has not yet interoperated, and may create a rift among hosts and users wary of Metas poor track record in protecting user privacy and content moderation.
We also saw the federation of social news aggregation. In June, Reddit outraged its moderators and third party developers by updating its API pricing policy to become less interoperable. This outrage manifested into a major platform-wide blackout protesting the changes and the unfair treatment of the unpaid and passionate volunteers who make the site worthwhile. Again, users turned to the maturing fediverse as adecentralized refuge, specifically the more reddit-like cousins of Mastodon, Lemmy and Kbin. Reddit, echoing Twitter once again, also came under fire for briefly banning users and subreddits related to these fediverse alternatives. While the protests continued well beyond their initial scope, and continued to remain in the public eye, order was eventually restored. However, the formerly fringe alternatives in the fediverse continue to be active and improving.
Some of our friends are hard at work figuring out what comes next.
Finally, while these projects made great strides in gaining adoption and improving usability, many remain generally small and under-resourced. For the decentralized social web to succeed, it must be sustainable and maintain high standards for how users are treated and safeguarded. These indie hosts face similar liability risks and governmental threats as the billion dollar companies. In a harrowing example we saw this year, an FBI raid on a Mastodon server admin for unrelated reasons resulted in the seizure of an unencrypted server database. Its asituationthat echoes EFFs founding case over 30 years ago, Steve Jackson Games v. Secret Service, and it underlines the need for small hosts to be prepared to guard against government overreach.
With so much momentum towards better tools and a wider adoption of better standards, we remain optimistic about the future of these federated projects.
This year has also seen continued work on components of the web that live further down the stack, in the form of protocols and libraries that most people never interact with but which enable the decentralized services that users rely on every day. The ActivityPub protocol, for example, describes how all the servers that make up the fediverse communicate with each other. ActivityPub opened up a world of federated decentralized social mediabut progressisn't stopping there.
Some of our friends are hard at work figuring out what comes next. The Veilid project was officially released in August, at DEFCON, and the Spritely project has been throwing out impressive news and releases all year long. Both projects promise to revolutionize how we can exchange data directly from person to person, securely and privately, and without needing intermediaries. As we wrote, were looking forward to seeing where they lead us in the coming year.
The European Unions Digital Markets Act went into effect in May of 2023, and one of its provisions requires that messaging platforms greater than a certain size must interoperate with other competitors. While each service with obligations under the DMA could offer its own bespoke API to satisfy the laws requirements, the better result for both competition and users would be the creation of a common protocol for cross-platform messaging that is open, relatively easy to implement, and, crucially, maintains end-to-end encryption for the protection of end users. Fortunately, the More Instant Messaging Interoperability (MIMI) working group at the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has taken up that exact challenge. Weve been keeping tabs on the group and are optimistic about the possibility of open interoperability that promotes competition and decentralization while protecting privacy.
DWeb Camp 2023
The star-studded gala (such as it is) of the decentralized web, DWeb Camp, took place this year among the redwoods of Northern California over a weekend in late June. EFF participated in a number of panels focused on the policy implications of decentralization, how to influence policy makers, and the future direction of the decentralized web movement. The opportunity to connect with others working on both policy and engineeringwas invaluable, as were the contributions from those living outside the US and Europe.
Blockchain Testimony
Blockchains have been the focus of plenty of legislators and regulators in the past handful of years, but most of the focus has been on the financial uses and implications of the tool. EFF had a welcome opportunity to direct attention toward the less-often discussed other potential uses of blockchains when we were invited to testify before the United States House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce. The hearing focused specifically on non-financial uses of blockchains, and our testimony attempted to cut through the hype to help members of Congress understand what it is and how and when it can be helpful while being clear about its potential downsides.
The overarching message of our testimony was that blockchain at the end of the day is just a tool and, just as with other tools, Congress should refrain from regulating it specifically because of what it is. The other important point we made was that the individuals that contribute open source code to blockchain projects should not, absent some other factor, be the ones held responsible for what others do with the code they write.
Adecentralized system means that individuals can shop for the moderation style that best suits their preferences.
Moderation in Decentralized Social Media
One of the major issues brought to light by the rise of decentralized social media such as Bluesky and the fediverse this year has been the promises and complications of content moderation in a decentralized space. On centralized social media, content moderation can seem more straightforward. The moderation team has broad insight into the whole network, and, for the major platforms most people are used to, these centralized services have more resources to maintain a team of moderators. Decentralized social media has its own benefits when it comes to moderation, however. For example, a decentralized system means that individuals can shop for the moderation style that best suits their preferences. This community-level moderation may scale better than centralized models, as moderators have more context and personal investment in the space
But decentralized moderation is certainly not a solved problem, which is why the Atlantic Council created the Task Force for a Trustworthy Future Web. The Task Force started out by compiling a comprehensive report on the state of trust and safety work in social media and the upcoming challenges in the space. They then conducted a series of public and private consultations focused on the challenges of content moderation in these new platforms. Experts from many related fields were invited to participate, including EFF, and we were excited to offer our thoughts and to hear from the other assembled groups. The Task Force is compiling a final report that will synthesize the feedback and which should be out early next year.
The past year has been a strong one for the decentralization movement. More and more people are realizing that the large centralized services are not all there is to the internet, and exploration of alternatives is happening at a level that we havent seen in at least a decade. New services, protocols, and governance models are also popping up all the time. Throughout the year we have tried to guide newcomers through the differences in decentralized services, inform public policies surrounding these technologies and tools, and help envision where the movement should grow next. Were looking forward to continuing to do so in 2024.
This blog is part of our Year in Review series.Read other articles about the fight for digital rights in 2023.
See the article here:
Taking Back the Web with Decentralization: 2023 in Review - EFF
- AI Compute Bottleneck: Case For Decentralization If Ever There Was One - Forbes - May 18th, 2024 [May 18th, 2024]
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- PwD Community in Bong Calls for Decentralization of National Commission on Disabilities - Global News Network ... - Global News Network - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- South Africa: MSF Calls for Decentralisation of Life-Saving DR-TB Services in Rural Setting - AllAfrica - Top Africa News - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Understanding Solana Validators And Top 10 Important Things To Know About Them - Blockchain Magazine - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Sonorus Crafting the Future of Music on-Chain With AI and Decentralization Standard PR Bitcoin News - Bitcoin.com News - March 15th, 2024 [March 15th, 2024]
- Announcing UniDexAI: Pioneering the Future of Decentralized Trading - AiThority - March 15th, 2024 [March 15th, 2024]
- SendingNetwork Launches Testnet for Bandwidth Mining, Redefining Decentralized Communication Infrastructure - CryptoSlate - March 15th, 2024 [March 15th, 2024]
- Web3 Wallet Wars: Security, Simplicity, And The Race To Dominate Decentralization - The Crypto Basic - January 22nd, 2024 [January 22nd, 2024]
- PO discusses decentralization reform with members of EU Delegation to Ukraine - Ukrinform - January 22nd, 2024 [January 22nd, 2024]
- Crypto Clash Ahead As Bitcoin 'Maxis' Face Institutional Giants Following Bitcoin ETF Approval - The Mountain Press - January 22nd, 2024 [January 22nd, 2024]
- Travel Decentralization: NFTs, Blockchain, and the Future of our Industry - Hospitality Net - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Vitalik Buterin Blames Rising Transaction Fees for Web3's Drift from Decentralization - Cryptonews - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Decentralization and Digital Power: HighKey CMO Jordan Lintz's Take on the New Social Media Era - Grit Daily - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Bitcoin Mining Pool Ocean Successfully Mines Third Block in Ongoing Decentralization Quest - Cryptonews - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Web3 needs to regress before we can progress in 2024 | Opinion - crypto.news - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- The Sam Altmanbacked crypto project Worldcoin announces plans for decentralization as it expands its eye-scanning ambitions - Fortune - December 12th, 2023 [December 12th, 2023]
- The Crypto Paradox: Decentralization and Central Bank Digital Currencies - The Herald-Times - December 12th, 2023 [December 12th, 2023]
- Kelp Is Crafting a Global Currency by Fusing Central Banking Theorem and Blockchain Decentralization - GlobeNewswire - December 12th, 2023 [December 12th, 2023]
- Bybit Celebrates Five Years with a Leap into Web3 Decentralization - Finance Magnates - December 12th, 2023 [December 12th, 2023]
- Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA) to be overtaken by Retik Finance (RETIK) in 2024 - Finbold - Finance in Bold - December 12th, 2023 [December 12th, 2023]
- Censorship Climbs on Ethereum as Block Builders Bar US-Sanctioned Transactions - Cryptonews - December 12th, 2023 [December 12th, 2023]
- Microsoft, Tencent and other tech giants join Decentralized Infura ... - Cointelegraph - November 17th, 2023 [November 17th, 2023]
- Web3 Firm Infura Recruits Microsoft, Tencent, and Others To Build ... - Cryptonews - November 17th, 2023 [November 17th, 2023]
- Ethereum L2 Starknet aims to decentralize core components of its ... - Cointelegraph - November 17th, 2023 [November 17th, 2023]
- Business models, fraud and decentralized digital IDs: Future Identity ... - Biometric Update - November 17th, 2023 [November 17th, 2023]
- 3 theses that will drive Ethereum and Bitcoin in the next bull market - Cointelegraph - November 17th, 2023 [November 17th, 2023]
- New York MoMA now has tokenized artworks in its permanent ... - Cointelegraph - November 17th, 2023 [November 17th, 2023]
- Crypto will overcome the stain of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried - Morningstar - November 17th, 2023 [November 17th, 2023]
- Opinion: CoreLogic's Selma Hepp on the effects of 'pandemic ... - HousingWire - November 17th, 2023 [November 17th, 2023]
- Sergey Nazarov: Only Bitcoin, Ethereum, Chainlink Truly ... - CryptoGlobe - October 1st, 2023 [October 1st, 2023]
- Ethereum decentralization takes hit as Blocknative discontinues its ... - Blockworks - October 1st, 2023 [October 1st, 2023]
- Near Protocol vs Tradecurve Markets: Pioneering the Future of ... - TechCabal - October 1st, 2023 [October 1st, 2023]
- How Crypto is Bridging the Gap Left by Traditional Banking? Crypto ... - Analytics Insight - October 1st, 2023 [October 1st, 2023]
- Blockchain and the scalability challenge: solving the blockchain ... - Finextra - October 1st, 2023 [October 1st, 2023]
- Web3's resilience amidst the bear market: A promising horizon awaits - Cointelegraph - October 1st, 2023 [October 1st, 2023]
- The Complexities Of Crypto: How To Help Break Down The Blockchain - UKTN (UK Technology News - October 1st, 2023 [October 1st, 2023]
- From CeFi to DeFi: How investors can redefine their asset ... - Cointelegraph - October 1st, 2023 [October 1st, 2023]
- The Social Economics of the Old Stone Jug - The Colgate Maroon-News - October 1st, 2023 [October 1st, 2023]
- Wait. Did Education Reform Just Become Inescapable? - The 74 - October 1st, 2023 [October 1st, 2023]
- XRP Decentralization Debates and Its Inflationary Token Distribution - BTC Peers - September 4th, 2023 [September 4th, 2023]
- Lido Finance ETH Staking Nears 33%; Alarming for Decentralization - The Coin Republic - September 4th, 2023 [September 4th, 2023]
- Preserving Decentralization: The Center Consortium's Governance ... - BTC Peers - September 4th, 2023 [September 4th, 2023]
- Experience Better Decentralization with Aerie's Comprehensive ... - Digital Journal - September 4th, 2023 [September 4th, 2023]
- Alibaba's Transformation: A New Era Of Decentralization And ... - Seeking Alpha - September 4th, 2023 [September 4th, 2023]
- Bitcoin ETFs will enhance Crypto Market Decentralization - Tekedia - September 4th, 2023 [September 4th, 2023]
- DeFi 1.0 and 2.0: Understanding the Phases of Decentralized Finance - The Coin Republic - September 4th, 2023 [September 4th, 2023]
- Ethereum Stakers Agree to 22% Self-Limit Seeking Decentralization - The Coin Republic - September 4th, 2023 [September 4th, 2023]
- Decentralization and Bitcoin Mining Pools - BTC Peers - September 4th, 2023 [September 4th, 2023]
- Analyzing Concentration of XRP Among the Founding Team and ... - BTC Peers - September 4th, 2023 [September 4th, 2023]
- Criticisms and Controversies Surrounding USD Coin Adoption - BTC Peers - September 4th, 2023 [September 4th, 2023]
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- Web3: Five Key Characteristics of the Decentralized Internet - The Coin Republic - September 4th, 2023 [September 4th, 2023]
- Shiba Inu and Bone Crypto Prediction vs Signuptoken.com: Top ... - Tekedia - September 4th, 2023 [September 4th, 2023]
- Comparing Tether on Ethereum vs Tron Blockchains - BTC Peers - September 4th, 2023 [September 4th, 2023]
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- Bitcoin Spark's ICO promises rewarding returns for Early Investors - Captain Altcoin - September 4th, 2023 [September 4th, 2023]
- Ethereum MEV incentives limit decentralization new report shows - CryptoSlate - August 13th, 2023 [August 13th, 2023]
- How to decentralize a prover, according to an engineer who did it for fun - Blockworks - August 13th, 2023 [August 13th, 2023]
- PayPal USD: Boon for Ethereum but not decentralization, says community - Cointelegraph - August 13th, 2023 [August 13th, 2023]
- Safeguarded Token: The Third Way between Decentralization vs. State Protection Part 3 - Modern Diplomacy - August 13th, 2023 [August 13th, 2023]
- Stablecoins need to focus on liquidity, not decentralization ... - Blockworks - August 13th, 2023 [August 13th, 2023]
- Lido DAO: Driving the Decentralization of Ethereum's Proof-of-Stake ... - Auralcrave - August 13th, 2023 [August 13th, 2023]
- Decentralization In Action: Unveiling The Strategies Of Scorpion ... - Tekedia - August 13th, 2023 [August 13th, 2023]
- Pulling Back The Layers of L2 Scaling in Blockchain Networks - Techopedia - August 13th, 2023 [August 13th, 2023]
- How Explainable AI Can Clarify Blockchain Transaction Auditing - Techopedia - August 13th, 2023 [August 13th, 2023]
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- It's way too soon for a marriage of AI and Web3 - Blockworks - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
- Uphill task to demilitarize and decentralize Thailand's deep South ... - Thai PBS World - July 9th, 2023 [July 9th, 2023]
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