Worldcoin — A Comfortable but Short-Lived Internet
While browsing the internet, I came across a new update from Worldcoin. Usually, I get excited when I see technological advancements, but this time it brought a bit of concern to me.
It was mentioned that access to various applications is possible through an identification system that Worldcoin refers to as a passport. Alongside popular applications like Discord, Reddit, it includes blockchain networks like OP. The passport verifies that your profile is that of a real person, essentially like a solid version of the blue checkmark that you can use everywhere, but a more robust version, we could say.
Many of us are familiar with the concept of digital identity. Many companies and individuals are working in this field. Therefore, Worldcoin’s passport application doesn’t sound strange. Identity verification through eye scanning is quite challenging, but perhaps the most effective method discovered so far. Especially in addressing the chaos created by bot accounts, manipulation, and various forms of digital bullying, digital identities promise significant comfort to all of us. However, its dystopian aspects are not to be underestimated. That’s actually why I wanted to write this piece.
Single Identity
Throughout our existence, we’ve witnessed many rulers and empires aspiring to dominate the world. They all failed for their own reasons. Bringing humanity together in a single country and a single identity proved impossible. As long as natural barriers exist, even if you’re the most powerful of your time, you can’t surpass your borders. This rule is still valid today, of course. Uniting in a single country is still not possible nowadays, but creating a single identity is now achievable. An opportunity unprecedented by any ruler before, thanks to the internet.
The removal of natural barriers allowed Worldcoin to target all individuals. For instance, if the idea of identifying individuals through eye scanning had emerged in the early days of the internet, many of us would probably find uploading such information to the internet unsafe and absurd. With the growing need for identification and the development of possibilities, this project has become feasible today. The updating of our perceptions by social media, fingerprint and facial scanning on phones became part of this progress.
Digital manipulations and online lynchings have become very useful in the dynamics of new media. Tagging and targeting individuals are less costly and more effective. Especially social media requires such identification. After identification, a process with extensive filtering, where there are no bot accounts, and committing crimes becomes as difficult digitally as it is in real life, can lead to a more peaceful infrastructure. However, this is where the other side of the coin comes in — the right to remain anonymous.
People prefer anonymity to keep their personalities separate from their actions, not to be evaluated together. Bitcoin and Satoshi are the perfect examples of this. Additionally, individuals with important ideas that they can’t express due to their external identity can contribute to society through anonymity. However, after identification, anonymity is likely to face serious social pressure. Instead of reducing toxicity, the aim of this digital neighborhood pressure may, ironically, significantly increase the illegal part of the internet called the dark web or deep web (whichever term you prefer). It could forcefully push such individuals towards the dark side of the internet. In today’s judgments, the prevailing logic is often politically based: if you’re not on our side, then you’re on the other side. Everyone is trying to fit each other into a mold. Therefore, if an internet user hasn’t undergone identification, this social pressure will automatically categorize them as a potential criminal. After all, if they’re not guilty, why hide their identity?
I’m sure that an identification system like Worldcoin’s will provide an internet that reduces toxicity and makes committing crimes more difficult. At least, we can say that it will establish an infrastructure where criminals can be easily identified and accused. However, I don’t think this comfort will last very long.
When such an identification system is in place, I believe no one thought that governments would just stand by. We’ve been talking about the removal of natural barriers from the beginning of the article. For states, the digital realm is an openly touched, feared area. It has a structure that directly invites backlash and loses votes. Therefore, attempts are made to operate through backdoors or partial interventions. The natural barrier that states face is people’s attachment to their anonymity and freedom of speech on the internet. However, we humans are not so resistant to technology. We are ready to give all kinds of data in exchange for a new service. If we allow our pupils to be scanned, it means we have started to lower our walls against this type of identification, indicating that the natural barrier in front of the state is beginning to loosen. It wouldn’t be surprising if national initiatives similar to Worldcoin emerged one after another.
Worldcoin offers a very comfortable internet environment, but I think it will have a relatively short lifespan. That’s why the photo above didn’t excite me but rather made me concerned. Already, more than 2.5 million people have had their eyes scanned. Worldcoin is expanding rapidly. We will likely experience how valid the concerns about digital identification are in a short time.
