A New Declaration for the Internet

[Declaration for Visibility, Access, Transparency, Community, Cyber-Equality, and Data-pendence]

A collaborative utopian vision, in the style of John Perry Barlow’s A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace, written by the students in Digital Inequalities at the University of Pennsylvania, 2020.  

Tech Monopolies of the Post-Industrial World, you weary giants of Silicon and “Clouds”, we come from Cyberspace, the new home of the Mind. On behalf of the future, we ask you of the past to listen.

Only governments have the vast power to govern, not platforms or shadowy data brokers operating behind our backs. Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. You have neither solicited nor received ours. You do not own nor have the right to sell data that does not belong to you. You have no entitled or automatic ownership over the content of users. 

 You claim there are problems among us that you need to solve. You claim to connect the world and bridge imaginary divides. Many of these problems don’t exist. You use this claim as an excuse to invade our precincts. Where there are real conflicts, where there are wrongs, we will identify them to secure our community’s safety and mutual respect. We refuse criminal activity and any activity that would put minors in danger. We will promote education that reinforces our values in order to foster the safety of our digital space.

Mr. Zuckerberg you're also guilty, and your platform allows groups of hate to be created and flourish. Users will grow tired of hateful speech propagating under the guise of “free speech” and Facebook will end. The creation of a platform for racist, sexist, misogynist, and homophobic messages should not be allowed in cyberspace.

We are not merely targets of advertising. We know our worth extends beyond that. Our identities are not for sale, whether by private actors or national governments. We own our data and it will not be sold, used, or exploited without our consent.

We reject those monopolies who want to control communication and creative outlets. Corporations, whether social media, news media, or otherwise, that develop such power must be divided and broken down. The Internet is not a space to own and monetize, but a space to interact, communicate, and cooperate.

You are terrified of your own children, since they have been raised on the tools that you claimed would connect and unite us, they became literate in the flaws inherent in your systems. This does not necessarily mean that they, or their new technologies are dangerous. 

Cyberspace consists of transactions, relationships, and thought itself, arrayed like a bustling public square. Within our new COVID world, where meeting in flesh is restricted, it provides a place to gather. 

We are creating a world where privacy is not invaded and access is not limited, that all may enter without fear of abuse of our data, and that provides unequivocal transparency with regard to how tech companies utilize data. We are creating a world where data will help those who provide it instead of exploiting and oppressing them.

Recognizing the Golden Rule, we are creating a world where the powers that be do not have the luxury of peering into the personal lives of the public; peering, that if done in their direction, would cause outright unrest. If it continues in our direction, this will also be the case.

We have created a world that acknowledges that we all enter with the privileges and prejudices accorded by race, economic power, military force, or station of birth. But, are still creating a world where the voices of people from historically disenfranchised and marginalized groups are free to tell their stories, and are protected from digital violence.

We are creating a world where the voices of the marginalized will be amplified with the assistance of algorithms, instead of in opposition to them. Our freedom is directly attached to the ability to exercise our right to speech and self-publishing on any platform online, and every citizen deserves equal access to connection to the internet. 

We will create a community of equality, transparency, and visibility in Cyberspace. May it be more humane and fair that the world your governments and monopolies have made before.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (& across the world over the internet)

Fall 2020

By: Austin, Fisher, Caroline, Sofi, Hannah, Sarah, Erin, Edward, Raven, Ania, Alice, Beatrice, Scott, Olivia, Vicky, William, Tara, Aviva, CF, Sudeep, Katie, Connor, Emily Solomon, Vivienne, Ignacio, Jaclyn, Shea, Isabella, Carlos, Brooke, Lindsay, Parker, Jonathan, Winston, lightly edited by Julia.