The internet is broken.

The past 20 years the integrity of the internet has been bargained away by the unscrupulous big tech firms. With recent attention on the dark side of surveillance capitalism and data extractivism it has become inevitable to invest in open, fair and inclusive internet. On every level of the ‘digital stack’, alternatives are more needed than ever. From hardware to firmware, operating systems to applications, identity design to sensors: the internet needs to be fixed.

The task might seem ambitious or even impossible. But pioneers are working on alternatives. And society and politicians are more awake. With the vitality and creativity that is typical for hackers, designers and activists we can rebuild a public and civic internet.

An internet where the technology is open, accountable, distributed, encrypted and privacy by design, the business model is based on the commons.

No data extraction and monetisation, no capital investments that force exponential growth. The design is excellent, user friendly and accessible for everyone and the governance structure is accountable with democratic control.

Are you working on an alternative yourself? Drop us an e-mail at publicstack@waag.org