Source: Cointelegraph Original: "{title}"

Views from: Chris Jenkins (Advisor at Pocket Network)

Tim Berners-Lee's vision for the World Wide Web has faded. Today's internet is no longer an open, inclusive global information system but is controlled by centralized global data oligarchs—these giants not only restrict freedom of speech but also monetize user data as a cost of entry. Web2 companies have built walled gardens, creating a significant information asymmetry between businesses and users.

Decentralized technology based on blockchain is challenging this status quo, providing alternatives to the closed-source infrastructure of Web2. It enables developers and engineers to build censorship-resistant, accessible open data networks that truly defend freedom of speech. Open-source technology is sparking a paradigm shift, creating a fair and inclusive new ecosystem for the internet, preventing centralized network companies from continuing to monopolize rule-making.

The Deferred Vision

In 1989, Berners' invention created a virtual space for human collaboration, sharing, and mutual learning. The early internet was built on principles of openness, where anyone could equally contribute content, access information, collaborate, and enjoy equal opportunities.

The internet of 2025 is no longer free. The brutal growth of capital has fueled centralized companies' authoritarian control over data and information flows.

Sadly, the power and resources of these companies come from unsuspecting users—who unknowingly become contributors to capital accumulation strategies. Web2 companies secretly collect user data without providing fair compensation and weaponize this data to manipulate user behavior.

Companies use user data to train opaque algorithms, manipulating user cognition and emotions through information "discoverability." This behavior is particularly evident on centralized social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X, where a continuous stream of scandals and pending lawsuits erodes user trust.

For example, in June 2024, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, faced a joint complaint from 11 EU member states for using users' posts, images, and other personal data to train AI models without consent, allegedly violating EU privacy laws.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal vividly demonstrated how companies can influence political opinions and election outcomes through data mining. These companies also construct pre-set narratives by boosting or suppressing specific reports, swaying market behavior, and even manipulating public perceptions of health and economic data.

The European Commission has launched compliance investigations against Apple, Meta, Amazon, and Alphabet under the Digital Markets Act, with Meta being fined $1.3 billion for violating privacy regulations.

In this environment, "freedom of speech" remains an elusive dream, as the entire tech stack is hostile to openness and accessibility. To realize Berners-Lee's vision, applications must adopt a decentralized tech stack and be built from the ground up on open architecture.

Restoring Freedom to the Internet

The tech stack of applications includes front-end, back-end, data storage, and content delivery networks (CDN). Web2 platforms rely on centralized tech stacks, putting freedom of speech at risk; while most blockchain applications adopt decentralized tech stacks that are censorship-resistant and have high uptime.

Although some decentralized applications (DApps) use decentralized interfaces on the front end, their back ends are still trapped in centralized data infrastructures.

For instance, despite the risks of censorship loopholes and single points of failure, many DApps still use centralized cloud service providers and data hosting platforms. Such attack vectors force projects like Tornado Cash to be subject to the whims of state actors.

Shifting to open-source distributed data storage protocols like IPFS and Filecoin is essential to genuinely uphold the principle of freedom of speech in DApps. These protocols provide censorship-resistant, tamper-proof storage facilities, ensuring services are not subject to human interruption.

DApps often also rely on centralized remote procedure call (RPC) providers to transmit data between the back end and front-end interfaces (especially in cross-chain scenarios). However, any failure or attack (like the incidents faced by platform X) can lead to service interruptions, data errors, information loss, and stream breaks—in the DeFi space, such incidents can result in billions of dollars in losses.

Decentralized protocols reconstruct data access and transmission channels through independent node operators to avoid these issues. Data queries are distributed across the network, eliminating single points of failure and ensuring continuous accessibility. More importantly, it can defend the right to freedom of speech: no single node can block data flows, and even if some nodes go offline, the network remains accessible.

As another key component responding to user requests, content delivery networks (CDN) can also become inaccessible due to market pressures or political influences. Opaque decision-making in closed-door meetings arbitrarily manipulates data flows on CDNs, making the circulation of information highly uncertain.

Reconstructing from the Ground Up

Decentralized protocols eliminate the need for centralized decision-making, allowing applications to access data directly without intermediaries. These permissionless protocols connect open-source data/service providers directly with users and applications, eliminating human intervention and the derivative issues it creates.

Blockchain platforms are laying the groundwork for a decentralized tech stack that promotes freedom of speech, freeing the web from the control of Web2 centralized companies. These permissionless protocols are building an open-source new world, returning the internet to Berners-Lee's original vision of a "global inclusive network."

This article is authored by: Chris Jenkins, Advisor at Pocket Network

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute any legal or investment advice. The views expressed represent the author's personal stance and may not reflect the official views of Cointelegraph.

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