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# The (un)freedom of the networked
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/unfreedom-of-networked/
- Published: 2013-07-27T19:07:57.000Z
- Updated: 2019-02-14T22:21:48.000Z
- Description: The web has a dual nature - it promotes some freedoms and endangers many others. Making the most of it will mean fighting for it (from the archive, 2008)
- Author: Tony Curzon Price
- Tags: Digital Liberties, #Migrated, #en, #Import 2026-04-09 17:36

In 2008, I was invited by a free market think-tank to present something about the Internet and freedom. I published it back then on openDemocracy in 3 parts (over [here](http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/email/the-liberty-of-the-networked-part-1)). At the time, I'd been a bit disappointed in the piece. It didn't come off the fence - so what would the web be doing to liberty? There just were these great opposing forces - there would be a rebirth of collective organisation, especially small-scale. And the huge databases would attract corporations, states and would build some kind of Kafka/Orwell hybrid. The Snowden revelations reminded me of the piece, and comforted me that whatever else was wrong about it, it truly demonstrated this dual nature of the web. Social media played a part in the Arab Spring. And our intelligence services are feasting on the data trail we willingly leave everywhere we click. And since the old version of the piece had suffered decay at the hands of a cloud service that I'd used to host all the visuals that went bust, I thought I'd re-issue a brand-new version. Thank you [Scribd](http://www.scribd.com/doc/154158324/The-freedom-of-the-networked-Tony-Curzon-Price-2008?ref=opendemocracy.net).

[The freedom of the networked. (2008)](http://www.scribd.com/doc/154158324/The-freedom-of-the-networked-Tony-Curzon-Price-2008?ref=opendemocracy.net) (Reload the page if the embed does not appear below)