That’s how we got in this mess to begin with
Ben Werdmuller points to this article and says that “self-sovereignty should be available to all” because “if only wealthy people can own their own stuff, the movement is meaningless.”
If I’m understanding the arguments that PJ Onori is making (below) and Ben is making (implicitly) then they’re eliding between “owning your data” and having things “on a site you control.” I’ve got a microserver under the desk in my office. All of the data on there is “mine” in that I can physically pick it up and take it elsewhere. But… is this what we’re advocating for? It seems unrealistic.
What seems more realistic is having your stuff “on a site you control.” But what does “control” mean in this context? For most people it’s not technical control, because they won’t have the knowledge or skills. Instead, it’s power, which is the thing I think is missing from most arguments around Open Source and Free Software. The missing piece, I would argue, is creating democratic organisations such as cooperatives to give people together a way of pushing back against the combined power of Big Tech and nation states. Doing it individually is a fool’s errand.
PS The reason you’ll never hear me talk of “self-sovereignty” is mainly because of this book co-written by the father of arch-Tory Jacob Rees-Mogg.
It’s 2025. Read.cv is shutting down. WordPress is on fire. Twitter has completely melted down. Companies are changing their content policies en masse. Social networks are becoming increasingly icy towards anything outside of their walled garden. Services are using the content you post to feed proprietary LLMs. Government websites appear to be purging data. It’s a wild time.
[…]
Now, more than ever, it’s critical to own your data. Really own it. Like, on your hard drive and hosted on your website. Ideally on your own server, but one step at a time.
[…]
Is taking control of your content less convenient? Yeah–of course. That’s how we got in this mess to begin with. It can be a downright pain in the ass. But it’s your pain in the ass. And that’s the point.
Source: PJ Onori’s blog
Image: Alexander Sinn