Protocols, Not Platforms - A Technological Approach to Free Speech (Masnick)

Some feel that these platforms have become cesspools of trolling, bigotry, and hatred. Meanwhile, others feel that these platforms have become too aggressive in policing language and are systematically silencing or censoring certain viewpoints.

What is clear is that there is no simple solution to these challenges, and most of the ones that are normally presented tend not to deal with the reality of the problems or to understand the technical and societal challenges that likely make them impossible. [...] As this article will attempt to highlight, most of these solutions are not just unworkable; many of them will make the initial problems worse or will have other effects that are equally pernicious.

This article proposes an entirely different approach [...] To be clear, this is an approach that would bring us back to the way the internet used to be. [...] In short, it would push the power and decision making out to the ends of the network, rather than keeping it centralized among a small group of very powerful companies.

With control has come demands for responsibility, including ever greater policing of the content hosted on these platforms.

Rather than relying on a “marketplace of ideas” within an individual platform—which can be hijacked by those with malicious intent—protocols could lead to a marketplace of ideals, where competition occurs to provide better services that minimize the impact of those with malicious intent, without cutting off their ability to speak entirely.