Why is there a need to decentralize the internet?

In 2021, 2.85 billion people used Facebook, while Instagram had a 1.38 billion-strong user base. So when these two suffered a six-hour outage in October, billions of people were affected. The downtime disrupted hundreds of millions of businesses and cut off countless people from the web, because Facebook was the sole platform they used.

You might not notice it, but we’re heavily dependent on only a handful of tech giants. We run much of our life through Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, Google, and Apple, that our entire world grinds to a halt when one of them goes down.

This is the primary reason for a decentralized internet: much of our online life lies in the hands of a few, and somehow, that power must be returned to us.

Decentralization, Explained

When we say decentralized internet, it means that the internet is controlled by many. There’s not a single entity that could own or control it.

If you compare the internet to other communication systems, you’ll notice that it’s the most decentralized. Think of the time when people relied on newspapers. Newspaper companies had full control over the information trickling down to the people. In contrast, the internet allowed you to access information you need, when you need it. That is, until it slowly became centralized.

From Decentralization to Centralization

The earliest version of the internet was largely decentralized–there wasn’t a single entity that had sole control. However, as time went by, a handful of tech companies took steps to monopolize the internet, generating a lot of power and wealth. These big players are starting to look like the monopolies of the past, creating a centralized internet where your entire online life is anchored on only two or three platforms.

Life with Meta

Let’s take the tech giant Meta, for example. It owns Facebook, where you catch up with friends, maybe run a shop, date via Facebook Dating, and join online communities. It also owns Instagram, where you run your business, build your personal brand, and shop.

All these facets of your digital life — and all the personal information that comes with them — is handled by Meta. Imagine the disruption should Meta go down.

Reasons for Decentralization

Let’s explore the need for decentralization further.

• Digital Security. In a centralized internet, sensitive data is in the hands of a few. There’s a risk that one data center breach is all it takes to get all your personal information.
• Privacy. Since a tech giant knows a lot about you, it has greater power over your ads and consequently, your online behavior.
• Surveillance. A centralized internet makes it easier for governments to impose censorship.

In this set-up, people who want to use the internet have no choice but to use platforms by tech giants.

With a decentralized internet, on the other hand, people get the same services and accomplish the same things, but they have more choices and greater control over their personal data. And because of this, even if one online platform experiences an outage, your entire digital life experiences minimal disruption.

Mechanics of a Decentralized Internet

From a user’s perspective, a well-executed decentralized internet won’t be very different from the one we’re using now. But below the surface, there are two fundamental changes:

• Peer-to-peer connectivity. A decentralized internet will be a user-based, peer-to-peer network where people can opt out of storing their personal data in big tech platforms.
• Information storage and retrieval. In a centralized internet, your computer uses the http protocol to retrieve information from specific digital locations. These locations are determined through http and https links. Therefore, whoever controls the location controls the access to information.
  In contrast, a decentralized internet uses links that identify content of information, rather than its location. This way, information is not easily controlled and can be moved and accessed from one place to another.

On top of that, the decentralized internet is open source, so people can report problems, collaborate on solutions, and improve the internet together.

Ideal as it sounds, the decentralized internet is far from reality. It’s technologically more difficult to build. Plus, Meta, Apple, Google, and Amazon are so entrenched in 21st century life that it will be hard for users to let go of old ways. Perhaps the next Meta outage might spark a greater movement towards decentralization.