What if Big Tech embraced the user-owned web — not to empower users, but to quietly rebuild control under the banner of openness? The last article of my mini series reveals the playbook of re-centralization and the safeguards Europe must deploy now.
#UserOwnedWeb #DigitalAutonomy #OpenWeb #Fediverse #SolidProject #EuropeanAlternatives #TechForEurope #TechTonicShift #EDAI
What if Big Tech embraced the user-owned web — not to empower users, but to quietly rebuild control under the banner of openness? This article reveals the playbook of re-centralization and the safeguards Europe must deploy now.
This document is Part 1 of the User-Owned Web series. Following the conceptual introduction (“Two Roads to the User-Owned Web”), it explores how control, value, and innovation shift when users—not platforms—own their data. Solid, ActivityPub, and similar user-owned web architectures serve as examples of this broader paradigm.
https://techtonicshift.vivaldi.net/2025/10/19/power-dynamics-of-the-user-owned-data-economy/
#UserOwnedWeb #DigitalAutonomy #OpenWeb #Fediverse #SolidProject #EuropeanAlternatives #TechForEurope #TechTonicShift #EDAI
The shift toward a user-owned data economy is transforming the foundations of digital power. When users control their data instead of platforms, technology, markets, and regulation begin to realign.
https://techtonicshift.vivaldi.net/2025/10/19/power-dynamics-of-the-user-owned-data-economy/
The web we know is efficient—but fragile. Power and innovation have drifted away from users and into platforms. A new generation of open architectures—ActivityPub, Solid, and beyond—offers a way to take control back.
https://techtonicshift.vivaldi.net/2025/10/16/roads-to-the-user-owned-web/
🧵 Fin du thread.
Replay, code source en ligne, prochain rendez-vous...
Restez connectés👇
https://hackdays.numerique.gouv.fr/
#HackDays2025 #OpenInnovation #TechForEurope
Over the past few weeks, I’ve received a number of encouraging responses to my posts and articles about the European Digital Autonomy Initiative (EDAI). Many of you appreciated the focus on European or open-source alternatives, the importance of using privacy-respecting services, or the need for stronger EU policy and public funding in this field.
All of that is great — and yes, it is part of the vision.
But if I may be honest: I have the feeling that my core message may not have come through clearly yet.
What is the actual novelty here?
I do not claim to be the first or the only one working on these questions. Quite the opposite: I now realise how many excellent initiatives already exist. Many people and organisations have long been developing European alternatives, advocating for open technologies, or working on digital sovereignty policies. I salute that.
The EDAI is not meant to replace any of these. It is meant to connect them.
My approach is not about a single issue or a specific action. It is about seeing these efforts as parts of a larger system. A system that has been missing from most public debates: a strategic framework that connects awareness, governance, and innovation.
I call these the three pillars of European Digital Autonomy:
Many initiatives already operate in one or two of these domains. But what I haven’t seen — and what I believe could make a real difference — is a shared framework where we see how these elements reinforce each other.
A better search engine is great. So is better funding regulation. So is media literacy. But the breakthrough will only come when these things are mutually catalytic.
From independence to interdependence
Everyone will naturally focus on what they know best. A coder will code. A researcher will analyse. An activist will mobilise. That’s how it should be.
But if we want more than partial improvements — if we want strategic change — we need to understand how all these efforts fit together. That’s what the EDAI attempts to provide: a systemic lens and a space to align our steps.
It doesn’t mean giving up independence. It means recognising interdependence.
If this speaks to you, stay tuned. In the coming days, I will ask for your thoughts on how we might go about finding collaborators for this idea within the Fediverse community. It’s not a fully-formed plan yet — and that’s exactly why your input could make a real difference.
Follow me on Mastodon:
TechTonicShift (@[email protected]) – Vivaldi Social
Gabor Hrasko (@[email protected]) – Mastodon
#EDAI #DigitalSovereignty #EuropeanAlternatives #TechForEurope #OpenSource #DigitalAutonomy #EuropeanValues #BuyEuropean #TechTonicShift
https://techtonicshift.vivaldi.net/2025/05/11/the-bigger-picture/
#BuyEuropean #DigitalAutonomy #DigitalSovereignty #EDAI #EuropeanAlternatives #EuropeanValues #OpenSource #TechForEurope #TechTonicShift
“Meta invests $72 billion, where are the European tech giants? Bureaucrats can’t match Elon Musk. Europe has no unicorns, no AI centers, no talent cult. Maybe we’re just not made for this.”
I recently heard this reaction to my European Digital Autonomy Initiative (EDAI). It’s not ill-willed — it’s a brutally honest summary of the skepticism many feel. And you know what? I get it. That’s exactly my starting point.
My EDAI doesn’t pretend that Europe is leading the digital race today. We’re not. But accepting this reality isn’t the same as surrendering to it.
Europe doesn’t need to copy Silicon Valley. We don’t need to outspend Meta or worship “techbro” hustle culture. What we do need is to recognize that this is not just a technological game — it’s a cultural and political one too.
Our digital ecosystem should reflect who we are: privacy-conscious, democratic, multilingual, inclusive. It’s not naïve to build on those values — it’s strategic. Long-term trust and legitimacy matter.
Yes, we lack the capital of the Big Five. But we have regulation, infrastructure, community, and a vision of the public good. That’s a different kind of power.
So no, we’re not going to give up. And no, I’m not walking away.
I’m building — slowly, collaboratively, and with purpose. Join me.
📌 Explore the full strategy and share your thoughts: 👉 European Digital Autonomy Initiative
Follow me on Mastodon:
TechTonicShift (@[email protected]) – Vivaldi Social
Gabor Hrasko (@[email protected]) – Mastodon
#EDAI #DigitalSovereignty #EuropeanAlternatives #TechForEurope #OpenSource #DigitalAutonomy #EuropeanValues #BuyEuropean #TechTonicShift
https://techtonicshift.vivaldi.net/2025/05/08/why-even-try-a-european-answer-to-digital-pessimism/
#BuyEuropean #DigitalAutonomy #DigitalSovereignty #EDAI #EuropeanAlternatives #EuropeanValues #OpenSource #TechForEurope #TechTonicShift
Guy ´Slowy´ Schalckens
Gabor Hrasko
ghrasko
Dir. interminist. du Numérique
Mailo
