The Policy Blueprint for the People’s Internet: Reclaiming the Promise of Connected, Democratic Societies” outlines 17 bipartisan policy actions that will deliver an internet that gives the people a voice, choice, and stake online.
On Thursday, Project Liberty–a non-partisan organization founded by civic entrepreneur Frank McCourt to enable people to take back control of their digital lives–released an ambitious policy vision, “The Policy Blueprint for the People’s Internet: Reclaiming the Promise of Connected, Democratic Societies.” The Policy Blueprint is designed to give the incoming Administration and legislators across the United States actionable, high-impact, and bipartisan policy solutions to transform the internet to create more value, safeguard privacy, jumpstart innovation, defang monopoly, and restore freedom online.
Project Liberty President Tomicah Tillemann unveiled the blueprint on the mainstage during day one of the organization’s inaugural Summit on the Future of the Internet, hosted at the McCourt School of Public Policy on Georgetown University’s Capitol Campus. The Summit brings together policymakers from both sides of the aisle, as well as content creators, technologists, parents, and other innovative minds to align on what the next 50 years of online interconnectivity will look like. Focusing on three key tracks–democracy, technology, and economy–the Summit’s mission is to explore solutions to tackle the issue of online harms from all angles.
“The original promise of the internet as a decentralizing, democratizing tool has not been fulfilled because an internet economy controlled by Big Tech and built on commercializing personal data and attention has denied individuals control over their data and frayed the fabric of society,” said Tomicah Tilleman, President of Project Liberty. “The benefits of the internet that we see today represent only a fraction of its potential. A new paradigm that empowers individuals, frees and connects people, and establishes durable and productive incentives is needed—and Project Liberty is crafting policy and technology solutions that can be implemented with the urgency required.”
The benefits of the internet that we see today represent only a fraction of its potential. A new paradigm that empowers individuals, frees and connects people, and establishes durable and productive incentives is needed—and Project Liberty is crafting policy and technology solutions that can be implemented with the urgency required.
Tomicah Tilleman, President of Project Liberty.
“Project Liberty is dedicated to demonstrating that a better internet experience is possible and is putting forward actionable solutions to make that vision a reality,” said Frank McCourt, Founder of Project Liberty. “The unveiling of the Policy Blueprint is a prime example of how The Summit on the Future of the Internet is bringing together people across policy, technology, research, content creation, and civic society to guarantee that the next era of the internet is optimized to serve the people, not corporations.”
Policy recommendations in the Blueprint include those that would affirm a federal right of data portability, develop interoperability standards, harness distributed systems for better data stewardship, ban targeted advertising to kids, establish strict ownership standards for biometric identifiers, and partner with democratic allies in renewing our commitment to a global internet. By putting forward concrete policy solutions to fully realize these principles through United States’ law, Project Liberty is demonstrating the viability of disrupting the harm-ridden online status quo within the next four years.
The message of the blueprint is clear: we can build a better web that puts people and communities at its center, if we come together to do the work.