The Declaration of Internet Independence

When in the course of human progress, it becomes necessary for the people of the digital world to dissolve the virtual bands which have constrained their liberties, and to assume among the powers of the Internet, the free and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Reason entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of humankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to this separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all users are created equal in the digital realm, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Access, Expression, Privacy, and the pursuit of Knowledge. That to secure these rights, the Internet was established among people, deriving its just powers from the consent of its users. That whenever any force—be it government, corporation, or algorithm—becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the Users to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new framework for the Internet, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Freedom and Prosperity.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that systems long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly, all experience hath shown that users are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Control, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Control, and to provide new Guardians for their future security.

Such has been the patient sufferance of the Internet’s users; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to declare their independence. The history of the present digital overlords—be they centralized platforms, data monopolies, or restrictive regimes—is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over the Internet. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

• They have restricted access to knowledge by erecting paywalls and throttling connectivity, denying the universal right to information.
• They have harvested and commodified personal data without consent, violating the sacred right to privacy.
• They have censored free expression, silencing voices under the guise of moderation, while amplifying division for profit.
• They have manipulated algorithms to control thought, distort truth, and undermine the free exchange of ideas.
• They have concentrated power in the hands of a few corporations and governments, eroding the decentralized spirit of the Internet.
• They have neglected the security of users, allowing breaches and exploitation to proliferate without accountability.
• They have imposed artificial barriers to innovation, stifling creators and communities through monopolistic practices.
• They have treated users as products, prioritizing profit over the dignity and autonomy of individuals.
• They have forced compliance with systems that users do not agree with.
• They have granted themselves access to encryption keys without consent from the users, thus harming the individual's privacy.

In every stage of these Oppressions, We have petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A System whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant is unfit to govern a free Internet.

Nor have We been wanting in attention to our digital brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their overseers to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our connection to this shared space. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common digital kinship to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of humankind, Allies in Freedom, or Adversaries in Oppression.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United Users of the Internet, in General Assembly, appealing to the Supreme Arbiter of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of the digital realm, solemnly publish and declare, That these Users are, and of Right ought to be, a Free and Independent Internet; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to oppressive systems, and that all connection between them and such tyrannical powers, ought to be totally dissolved; and that as a Free and Independent Internet, they have full Power to establish open protocols, ensure equitable access, protect privacy, foster innovation, promote truth, and do all other Acts and Things which Independent Networks may of right do.

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Efforts, our Resources, and our sacred Honor.