---
title: "The Internet: Infrastructure for Civil Society"
date: 2025-01-15
featureImageCaption: ITU. https://bbmaps.itu.int/bbmaps/. Captured 2025-07-09.
summary: The Internet stands as one of humanity's most transformative technological achievements, connecting billions of people and fundamentally reshaping how we communicate, learn, organize, and participate in public life.
---

## Introduction

The Internet stands as one of humanity's most transformative technological achievements, connecting billions of people and fundamentally reshaping how we communicate, learn, organize, and participate in public life. For civil society—the network of organizations, movements, and communities working for social good outside government and market structures—the Internet has become essential infrastructure.

Yet the Internet we experience today is increasingly shaped by commercial imperatives and state control, diverging from its original design as a decentralized, open network. Understanding how the Internet works, how it's changing, and how it can be reclaimed is crucial for civil society organizations seeking to maintain their independence and effectiveness.

This article explores the Internet's technical foundations, its evolution, the challenges to its openness, and how civil society can work toward a more democratic digital infrastructure.

## Technical Foundations: How the Internet Works

The Internet is not a single entity but a "network of networks" built on open protocols—shared technical standards that allow diverse systems to communicate. Understanding these foundations helps reveal both the Internet's inherent values and the points where those values are being compromised.

### Core Protocols

Several key protocols form the Internet's foundation:

- **TCP/IP** (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol): The fundamental communication language of the Internet, which breaks data into packets and routes them to their destination
- **DNS** (Domain Name System): Translates human-readable domain names (like civilsociety.dev) into numerical IP addresses that computers use
- **HTTP/HTTPS** (Hypertext Transfer Protocol): Enables the retrieval and display of web pages and other content
- **SMTP/IMAP/POP** (Email protocols): Allow messages to be sent and received across different email providers

These protocols were designed with openness and interoperability as core values—anyone could implement them without permission, and they enabled communication between different systems regardless of who made them.

### Decentralized Design

The Internet was originally designed with decentralization as a core principle:

- No central authority controls the entire network
- Data can route around damage or censorship
- New services and applications can be created without permission
- Anyone can connect a new network to the existing infrastructure

This decentralization was not just a technical choice but a value-laden design decision with profound implications for freedom of expression, innovation, and accessibility.

### Open Standards

The Internet relies on open standards developed through collaborative processes:

- **IETF** (Internet Engineering Task Force): Develops core Internet protocols
- **W3C** (World Wide Web Consortium): Creates web standards
- **IEEE** (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers): Develops networking standards

These organizations traditionally operated on principles of openness, transparency, and rough consensus—anyone could participate, decisions were made in the open, and standards were freely available.

## The Internet's Evolution: From Open Commons to Enclosed Spaces

The Internet has undergone profound changes since its inception, with significant implications for civil society:

### The Early Internet (1970s-1990s)

The early Internet emerged from government and academic research networks, with design principles that emphasized:

- Resilience against failure
- Peer-to-peer communication
- Open collaboration
- Decentralized governance

During this period, the Internet functioned largely as a digital commons—a shared resource governed by its community of users rather than commercial or state interests.

### The Commercialization Era (1990s-2010s)

With the development of the World Wide Web and growing public interest, commercial entities began playing a larger role:

- Telecommunications companies became the primary providers of Internet access
- Commercial web browsers and servers dominated
- Advertising emerged as the primary business model
- Proprietary services began to replace open protocols

This commercialization brought resources and innovation but also introduced private interests into what had been a common resource.

### The Platform Era (2010s-Present)

The most recent phase has seen the rise of a few dominant platforms:

- Social media platforms have become primary communication channels
- Cloud services concentrate data storage and processing
- App stores create controlled environments for software distribution
- Digital advertising enables mass surveillance

These platforms have created unprecedented centralization on a network designed to be decentralized—a fundamental contradiction with significant consequences.

## Challenges to an Open Internet

Today's Internet faces several interconnected challenges that threaten its role as open infrastructure for civil society:

### 1. Network Neutrality and Access

The principle that all Internet traffic should be treated equally—regardless of its source, destination, or content—faces ongoing threats:

- Internet Service Providers seeking to create "fast lanes" for paying content
- Zero-rating schemes that exempt certain services from data caps
- Technical practices like deep packet inspection that enable discrimination
- Asymmetric connections that privilege consumption over creation

These threats undermine the Internet's function as a level playing field where all voices have equal technical opportunity to be heard.

### 2. Surveillance Capitalism

The dominant business model of today's Internet is based on comprehensive tracking and behavioral modification:

- Pervasive tracking across websites and applications
- Detailed profiling of users for targeted advertising
- Behavioral manipulation to maximize engagement
- Commodification of personal data and attention

This model creates inherent conflicts with privacy, autonomy, and the trust necessary for civic participation.

### 3. Digital Enclosures

Increasingly, open protocols are being replaced by closed platforms:

- Messaging moving from email and SMS to proprietary apps
- Content shifting from websites to social media platforms
- Applications moving from locally-installed software to cloud services
- Identity systems controlled by a few major providers

These enclosures create dependencies and vulnerabilities for civil society organizations that rely on digital infrastructure they cannot control.

### 4. Infrastructure Consolidation

At the physical and logical levels, the Internet is becoming more concentrated:

- Cloud services concentrated among a few providers
- Content delivery networks controlling much web traffic
- Internet backbone dominated by a small number of companies
- DNS increasingly centralized despite its distributed design

This consolidation creates single points of failure and control in a system designed to avoid them.

### 5. State Control and Surveillance

Governments worldwide are asserting greater control over the Internet:

- Mass surveillance by intelligence agencies
- Censorship and filtering systems
- Data localization requirements
- Internet shutdowns during protests or elections

These controls directly threaten civil society's ability to organize, communicate, and advocate freely.

## Implications for Civil Society

These challenges have specific implications for civil society organizations:

### Organizational Autonomy

As digital infrastructure becomes more centralized and commercial, civil society organizations face threats to their autonomy:

- Dependence on platforms that can change rules unilaterally
- Vulnerability to surveillance by both corporate and state actors
- Limited control over how they reach their communities
- Potential conflicts between platform policies and organizational mission

These dependencies undermine organizations' ability to operate independently and in accordance with their values.

### Communication and Community-Building

Civil society depends on the ability to communicate freely and build community:

- Platform algorithms determine which messages reach which audiences
- Corporate content policies may restrict legitimate speech
- Surveillance chills participation and trust
- Commercial incentives prioritize engagement over substantive connection

These constraints limit organizations' ability to foster the authentic communication essential to their missions.

### Information Access and Sharing

Civil society requires the free flow of information:

- Search algorithms shape what information seems relevant and accessible
- Paywalls restrict access to knowledge
- Content filters may block legitimate resources
- Data caps and connectivity costs limit access

These barriers create information inequalities that particularly affect marginalized communities.

### Technology Choices

Civil society organizations face difficult choices about their technology use:

- Using commercial platforms means accepting their surveillance and control
- Building alternatives requires resources many organizations lack
- Avoiding dominant systems may limit reach and impact
- Technical complexity creates barriers to informed decisions

There are no perfect options in a digital environment increasingly designed to serve interests other than those of civil society.

## Reclaiming the Internet for Civil Society

Despite these challenges, numerous initiatives are working to reclaim the Internet as open infrastructure for civil society:

### Community Networks

Around the world, communities are building their own Internet infrastructure:

- Mesh networks that provide local connectivity
- Community-owned fiber networks
- Wireless community networks in both rural and urban areas
- Local data centers controlled by their communities

These initiatives demonstrate that the physical layer of the Internet can be built and maintained as a community resource rather than a commercial service.

### Protocol Revival and Innovation

New protocols are emerging to replace centralized services:

- **ActivityPub** enables federated social networking
- **Matrix** provides decentralized real-time communication
- **IPFS** (InterPlanetary File System) offers distributed content storage
- **Secure Scuttlebutt** enables offline-first social networking

These protocols return to the Internet's original design philosophy of openness and interoperability while addressing contemporary needs.

### Platform Cooperativism

Alternative ownership models are being applied to digital platforms:

- User-owned social networks
- Worker-owned gig platforms
- Community-governed digital infrastructure
- Cooperatively developed and maintained software

These models align governance with the interests of users rather than external shareholders.

### Digital Commons

Various initiatives are building digital commons—resources that are collectively owned and governed:

- Open-source software communities
- Open educational resources
- Community-maintained knowledge bases
- Public domain datasets

These commons provide alternatives to enclosed, proprietary resources.

### Policy Advocacy

Civil society organizations are advocating for policies that protect the Internet as public infrastructure:

- Network neutrality protections
- Privacy regulations that limit surveillance
- Interoperability requirements for dominant platforms
- Public investment in digital infrastructure
- Antitrust enforcement against digital monopolies

These policy approaches recognize that the Internet's governance cannot be left entirely to market forces.

## The Civil Society Technology Foundation's Approach

The Civil Society Technology Foundation works toward an Internet that serves civil society through several interconnected strategies:

### 1. Self-Hosted Infrastructure

Our Wild Cloud project demonstrates how civil society organizations can regain control over their digital infrastructure by running their own services on hardware they control. This approach:

- Reduces dependency on commercial platforms
- Enhances privacy and security
- Builds technical capacity
- Creates resilience against censorship or shutdown

By providing accessible tools and knowledge for self-hosting, we help organizations reclaim their technological autonomy.

### 2. Federation and Interoperability

We advocate for and support federated approaches to digital services, where independent instances can communicate through open protocols. This model:

- Enables community governance of each instance
- Allows adaptation to local needs and contexts
- Prevents central points of control
- Maintains the benefits of network connectivity

Federation represents a middle path between isolated self-sufficiency and centralized dependency.

### 3. Digital Literacy

We develop educational resources that help civil society organizations understand the Internet's technical, social, and political dimensions. This knowledge enables:

- Informed decisions about technology adoption
- Strategic advocacy for better policies
- Recognition of threats to autonomy
- Participation in governance processes

Without this literacy, technical and governance decisions are effectively made by default, often against civil society's interests.

### 4. Standards Participation

We participate in Internet standards processes to ensure civil society perspectives are represented. This participation helps:

- Keep protocols open and accessible
- Center human rights concerns in technical design
- Resist surveillance by default
- Maintain the Internet as a global commons

Standards decisions that seem purely technical often embed important value choices that affect civil society's ability to function.

## Practical Steps for Civil Society Organizations

Organizations seeking to reclaim their digital autonomy can take several practical steps:

### 1. Inventory and Assessment

Begin by understanding your current digital dependencies:

- What platforms and services does your organization rely on?
- What data do you share with those platforms?
- What risks would you face if those services changed policies or shut down?
- What information is most sensitive for your community?

This inventory creates the foundation for strategic decisions about where to invest in alternatives.

### 2. Prioritization

Based on your assessment, identify priorities for increasing autonomy:

- Which dependencies create the greatest risks?
- Where would investments in alternatives create the most benefit?
- What capabilities do you need to develop internally?
- What can be addressed through collective action with peer organizations?

Given limited resources, strategic prioritization is essential for effective action.

### 3. Collective Approaches

Many challenges are best addressed collectively:

- Pool resources with similar organizations to develop shared infrastructure
- Join existing cooperatives or commons initiatives
- Participate in federated networks that align with your values
- Contribute to open-source projects that meet your needs

Collective approaches distribute costs while building resilient communities of practice.

### 4. Incremental Implementation

Implement changes incrementally to manage transition costs:

- Start with less visible systems to build experience
- Develop internal capacity through manageable projects
- Create migration paths that allow gradual transition
- Evaluate and adapt based on experience

Incremental approaches make change sustainable and build internal support.

### 5. Advocacy and Solidarity

Address structural issues through advocacy:

- Support policy initiatives for an open Internet
- Raise awareness about digital rights issues
- Build solidarity with other civil society organizations
- Participate in governance forums where decisions are made

Individual efforts must be complemented by structural change for sustainable impact.

## Conclusion

The Internet remains essential infrastructure for civil society, but its current trajectory threatens the openness and autonomy that make it valuable. By understanding how the Internet works, recognizing the challenges to its openness, and taking practical steps toward alternatives, civil society organizations can help reclaim this vital resource.

The Civil Society Technology Foundation believes that an Internet aligned with civil society values is both necessary and possible. Through self-hosted infrastructure, federated services, digital literacy, and collective action, we can build a digital environment that genuinely serves the public interest rather than commercial or state control.

As we face increasing centralization and surveillance, this work becomes not just technically important but essential for preserving the spaces where civil society can function effectively. The Internet we need—open, accessible, and democratic—won't emerge by default; it must be actively built and maintained as a digital commons.
