A post-American, enshittification-resistant internet

Reclaiming the Digital Frontier: Building an Enshittification-Resistant Internet Beyond American Monopolies

The Web Summit Lisbon 2025 discussion, featuring Cory Doctorow and Rabble, explored the “enshittification” of the internet. This decay of digital platforms stems from anti-circumvention laws that criminalize reverse engineering and modification, preventing technologists from fixing or improving systems. This legal framework stifles innovation and user control, creating a dichotomy where the open web allows ad blockers, but proprietary apps, protected by these laws, do not. Apps are platforms where user privacy protection is effectively illegal, enabling companies to maximize data collection and advertising, funneling users into controlled ecosystems for increased exploitation.

The global adoption of anti-circumvention laws was largely driven by US Trade Representatives, who used tariff threats to enforce their implementation worldwide. This has granted American tech giants immense power, often overriding local regulations and digital sovereignty, as evidenced by the European Union’s ongoing challenges with GDPR compliance. Europe’s efforts to regulate these tech monopolies, such as through the Digital Markets Act, have met strong resistance, with Apple’s responses highlighting the difficulties governments face in controlling powerful monopolists.

The speakers advocated for “adversarial interoperability,” urging the repeal of anti-circumvention laws. This would empower European firms to develop tools for data liberation and platform openness, fostering competition and creating a significant export market for these technologies. This approach offers a pathway to digital independence and economic opportunity, countering “choke point capitalism” enforced by DRM and IP laws. Examples like the remote disabling of John Deere tractors in Ukraine and Microsoft terminating the ICC prosecutor’s Outlook account illustrate the vulnerabilities of relying on centralized platforms.

The “Eurostack” initiative, aiming for open-source alternatives, faces migration challenges without legal interoperability. Repealing anti-circumvention laws is vital for seamless data transitions and a competitive ecosystem. The Volkswagen Dieselgate scandal, where emissions fraud was hidden by restricted software access, underscores the dangers of such legal protections. Economically, the current system enables extreme profit margins, exemplified by inkjet printer ink. By legally challenging these high-margin markets through interoperability, regions like Canada could reclaim substantial revenue from American tech monopolists, stimulating their own tech sectors.

The discussion also addressed the impending collapse of the AI boom, driven by unsustainable spending and inflated valuations. This bust will create opportunities for innovation, with cheaper hardware, available talent, and a focus on open-source models. The speakers dismissed the idea of AI achieving super-intelligence, characterizing it as advanced “word guessing programs” fundamentally different from human cognition. Finally, they warned against the exploitation of tech workers, who, without unionization, have lost power. Society faces a critical choice: a social revolution that reclaims productivity gains for all, or succumbing to fascism in times of economic hardship.