Opinion of: Chris Jenkins, Pocket Network advisor
Tim Berners-Lee’s vision on the World Wide Web is dead. Instead of an open and accessible global information system, the web is controlled by centralized global data conglomerates, which do not only restrict freedom of expression but also monetize your data as entry price. Web2 companies have built closed gardens with a massive information asymmetry between companies and users.
Decentralized blockchain decentralized technology defies the status quo, offering an alternative to the closed source infrastructure of web2.
It allows developers and engineers to build a web of open data resistant to censorship and accessible to defend the cause of freedom of expression. Open Source technology creates a paradigmatic change in a fair and inclusive internet where centralized web companies will not dictate the terms.
A delayed vision
In 1989, the invention of Berners-Lee created a virtual space for collaboration, sharing and learning from each other. The first iteration of the web was based on opening, where anyone could contribute, access information, work together and take advantage of the same opportunities.
The Internet is no longer free in 2025. Capital brute strength entangled centralized companies to exercise authoritarian control over data and information flows.
Unfortunately, these companies have acquired their power and resources from unconscious users who unconsciously contributed to their capital accumulation strategies. Web2 companies surreptitiously collect data from users without fair compensation and use it as a weapon to control user behavior.
Companies use user data to train opaque algorithms and deploy information “discover” to shape user beliefs and emotions. This practice is visible mainly on centralized social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and X, with several scandals and disputes awaiting user eroding.
For example, in June 2024, Meta, the Facebook and Instagram parent company, received 11 complaints from members of the European Union. Complaints concerned the use of personal data such as publications and images to train Meta AI models without consent, violating the EU confidentiality laws.
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The Cambridge Analytica scandal has shown how companies use data to shape political prospects and electoral results. These companies also build predetermined accounts and shape market behavior by promoting or reversing organized reports, sometimes shaping public prospects on health and economic data.
Under its law on digital markets, the European Commission has launched a non-compliance survey on Apple, Meta, Amazon and Alphabet practices. Meta also initiated a fine of $ 1.3 billion for having failed to comply with confidentiality regulations.
In this environment, “freedom of expression” remains a eccentric dream because the whole technological pile is hostile to accessibility and opening. To make the vision of Berners-Lee, applications must use a decentralized technological battery and be built from zero on an open architecture.
Make internet free (again)
The technical battery of an application consists of its front and rear ends, data storage and the content delivery network (CDN). Web2 platforms depend on a centralized technological battery which puts freedom of expression in danger, while most of the applications powered by blockchain exploit a decentralized technological battery resistant to censorship with high availability.
Certain decentralized applications (DAPP) build their front end on a decentralized interface. Most of their back-end, however, is still stuck on the centralized data infrastructure.
For example, despite their censorship vulnerabilities and unique failure points, decentralized applications (DAPP) often use centralized cloud suppliers and data hosting platforms. These types of attack vectors carry out projects such as the arbor in cash subject to the changing moods of state actors.
The transition to open source protocols for distributed data storage such as the interplanetary file system (IPF) and Filecoin support the philosophy of freedom of expression on DAPPS. These protocols offer a storage installation to the test of censorship and resistant to censorship which remains accessible without arbitrary breakdowns.
DAPPs also use centralized remote procedural call suppliers (RPC) to provide data from the Back-End interface to the front interface, in particular on several networks. But any breakdown or attack, like that on X, can cause downtime, inaccuracies, data gaps and disconnected information flows. If it does not seem much, do not forget the time of downtime or the inaccuracies in decentralized finance can cost billions.
Decentralized protocols avoid these situations by transforming data accessibility and transfer channels with independent node operators. Data requests are spread over the network, eliminating any unique failure point and providing uninterrupted data availability. More importantly, it guarantees rights to freedom of expression because no node can block or hinder the data flow, and the network remains accessible even if several nodes are offline.
CDNs, yet another crucial element to serve user requests, can become inaccessible due to market pressure or political influence. The opaque decisions of closed meetings dictate data flows on CDNs without any certainty in information flows.
Start with the basics
Decentralized protocols remove the need for centralized decision -making by allowing applications to directly access data without intermediaries. These protocols without permission connect data and open source service providers with users and applications, deleting human interaction and associated manufactured problems.
The platforms fueled by the blockchain throw the foundations for a decentralized technological battery which promotes freedom of expression and is not controlled by centralized web2 companies. These protocols without authorization create an open source world and refer the internet to the vision of Berners-Lee from a global and accessible network.
Opinion of: Chris Jenkins, Pocket Network advisor.
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and must not be considered as legal or investment advice. The points of view, the thoughts and opinions expressed here are the only of the author and do not reflect or do not necessarily represent the opinions and opinions of Cointellegraph.
