Digital Sovereignty: New Alliance Demands More Commitment to Open Networks
A new coalition advocating for "open networks" has emerged, urging greater commitment to digital sovereignty in Europe. This initiative, spearheaded by civil society groups, aims to foster independence from dominant tech platforms. The coalition will present its demands at the upcoming Summit on European Digital Sovereignty in Berlin. The coalition, including organizations like Digitale Gesellschaft and Wikimedia Deutschland, is calling for concrete measures to promote open social networks. Their key demand is an annual funding of 30 million euros for the Fediverse. The Fediverse is a decentralized network of social networks that use the ActivityPub protocol, offering alternatives to platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. This initiative underscores concerns that the digital sovereignty summit might overemphasize large-scale projects and artificial intelligence, overlooking opportunities for effective action with more modest resources. The coalition argues that public investment should focus on sustainable digital infrastructure accessible to all European citizens, rather than replicating existing platforms through large-scale projects. This approach aims to safeguard the European economic landscape. The push for open networks and Fediverse funding highlights a broader effort to promote digital diversity and counter the dominance of a few tech giants. The coalition believes that open and decentralized networks are essential for democratic public discourse and the digital well-being of European society.
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