Activism
The Internet promised freedom. But something went wrong.
We dreamed of a digital utopia—equal, decentralized, without censorship or borders. Instead, we got the traps of authoritarian algorithms, cameras in our pockets, and likes as a currency of submission. Somewhere between rejecting Google and trying to figure out how Tor works, the figure of the cyber-anarchist appears—part ghost, part prophet, part hacker.
Who are they—these people who encrypt not just their correspondence, but the very possibility of being? How do they differ from leftists, libertarians, or simple paranoiacs? And is it even possible to preserve freedom in a network where every click writes a denunciation?
Nottoday spoke with a cyber-anarchist about all of the above—and publishes his monologue.
Introduction: How Cyber-Anarchism Arose
Hi. I’ll tell you a little about cyber-anarchism—how this concept arose and what events preceded it.
“Actually, cyber-anarchism is in a sense the natural development of anarchist ideas in the digital space. If in the 19th and 20th centuries anarchists like Kropotkin, Bakunin, or Malatesta built utopias in a factory-industrial society, then with the development of the internet, a new field for experimentation appeared—cyberspace.”
And the ideas that began to emerge there came not so much from theory as from practice.
Crypto-Anarchism: The Manifesto and First Steps
Crypto-anarchism is one of the first such manifestations. Timothy C. May in 1988 wrote the “The Crypto Anarchist Manifesto”, where he laid out the essence: the use of cryptography to protect individual freedom from the state. He had no references to Kropotkin or Proudhon—it was not political philosophy in the academic sense, but a living practice of resistance. Later, the ideas of crypto-anarchists were embodied in projects such as Bitcoin, Tor, PGP, WikiLeaks, OpenBazaar, SimpleX—all of them are aimed at decentralization, anonymity, and control over one’s own information.
Phreakers and Hackers: Precursors of Digital Anarchy
But long before that, there were their own “anarchists”—not by ideological platform, but by spirit. For example, John Draper, better known as Captain Crunch. In the 1970s, he became a legend among phreakers and hackers. He discovered that a whistle from a Cap’n Crunch cereal box emitted a 2600 Hz tone, which could be used to control AT&T telephone lines. Thus was born phreaking—the hacking of telephone networks, long before computer networks.
“It wasn’t a political protest, but practical hooliganism, but at its core lay the same craving for freedom, bypassing restrictions, and control over infrastructure that later became ideologically saturated in cyber-anarchism.”
DIY Philosophy: Freedom Starts with Tools
The idea here is that if you can build your own tools yourself—you are your own master. Therefore, a lot of people around the world create open-source software, decentralized platforms, encryption systems, decentralized finance services (DeFi) and so on. And they do it not for the sake of profit, but for the sake of principle—to build a society where no one dominates, where power is not concentrated in the hands of corporations or states.
Cyberspace as the Last Continent
There are also more modern reflections. For example, an interesting free book was recently released in which the author reflects on cyberspace as the last “unclaimed continent”. Like, it’s too early to fly into space, too late to sail to the New World—all continents have already been discovered, but the internet is a new territory. What kind of territory is it? In essence—an information field, a field for the exchange of meanings.
“Previously, knowledge was spread through books, now through the network. This is a huge shift because digital space is not just text. It is a platform on which one can build a new economy, new forms of interaction, and even alternative political structures.”
Cryptocurrencies: From Anarchy to State Reserves
In the digital world, one can do without traditional money—take the same cryptocurrencies, and smart contracts, which open up the possibility of creating a more sophisticated and fair financial infrastructure that controls itself. Once, crypto-anarchists invented them as a way to free themselves from banks and states. And now even states themselves are interested in them. Donald Trump, for example, recently discussed the idea of including bitcoin in the US reserve fund, and El Salvador began using bitcoin as official currency. It turns out that the idea invented to bypass the state is now being used by that very state. Funny, but also worrying.
Creation Above Destruction
What’s important is that cyberspace allows you not only to break, but also to create. This is what I consider key.
“You can make your own computers, your own networks, your own weapons, your own economy. An example is the FGC-9, a 3D-printed weapon developed by a German engineer-enthusiast and posted in the public domain. Everything from idea to practice happens online: design, discussion, fundraising, logistics.”
Neil Gershenfeld, director of the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms and founder of the Fab Lab movement, explores the future of manufacturing through the lens of self-replicating robots and digital fabrication. He proposes a model in which machines can assemble their own copies from modular components, which is especially relevant for autonomous production in resource-constrained environments, such as space. Gershenfeld sees the transition from digital information (bits) to physical objects (atoms) as the basis of a new manufacturing revolution—decentralized, personalized, and accessible to everyone. His network of Fab Labs around the world embodies this idea, allowing people to create things from digital blueprints, changing the economy, education, and the very essence of production.
The power lies in the fact that you can be anywhere in the world and, without leaving home, influence global processes. People unite, use their brains, pool resources, and build their own autonomous reality.
New Power: Algorithms and the Digital Crowd
But yes, with this comes a new power—the power of algorithms, the power of the digital crowd. And if you don’t keep it in check, it becomes dangerous. For example, cyberstalking, doxing, bullying—these are forms of digital violence that can destroy a person’s life. The internet remembers everything, knows everything. Memes, viral videos—and suddenly you’ve become an object of ridicule or even persecution. This is no longer freedom, but digital bullying.
Anarchism on the Net: For One and All
Therefore, anarchist ideas are important here too. It is necessary not only to resist centralized control but also to build a digital space in which people will be safe and free. So that it belongs to everyone, taking into account the interests of everyone. And not just those who have more servers or subscribers.
This is what it is—cyber-anarchism. Not so much a philosophy with books and circles, but a field for experimentation. Where freedom is not a slogan, but a code. Where power is infrastructure. And where anarchy is not chaos, but coordination without coercion.
Difference Between Cyber-Anarchism and Traditional Anarchism
How does cyber-anarchism differ from traditional anarchism? In fact, there are almost no fundamental differences. It’s just that thanks to the fact that in the digital space you can clone, multiply, share—in short, resources there are not as limited as offline. Everything is much more fluid, blurred. And in general, it is simply easier to implement anarchism in digital form. It is, in essence, the most fertile ground for anarchy. There you can set up experiments—political, social, cultural, technological—and immediately test them in action.
Values of Cyber-Anarchists
What values do cyber-anarchists develop? All the same ones.
“The most important thing is the three pillars: anonymity, privacy, security. If these three things are in place for you—you can move forward. Plus—free distribution of information, free access to knowledge, free software.”
For example, Richard Stallman—the father of the free software movement—said that “software should be not just free of charge, but free.” That is: you should have the right to study it, modify it, pass it on to others. This is, essentially, digital communism. Complete abolition of private intellectual property. Everything is common, everything is transparent, everything is for the common good.
Goals and Threats: Decentralization, Anonymity, and Algorithmic Bubbles
Goals of cyber-anarchists in the digital space? Decentralization, anonymity, free information. Plus, of course, protection from surveillance, from propaganda, from filter bubbles. So that no YouTube or TikTok knows for you what you want. And it almost can already. Everything you do—tapping, liking, even just watching—is saved. The system knows you better than you know yourself.
This is already starting to be scary. Because the next step—you just ask a question, and the neural network is like: “I know what you want.”
This is not just a search—it is an invasion. And this is no longer just techno-realism, it is dystopia in real time.
Transhumanism: Freedom of Body and Consciousness
And what about the body and anarchy? This is where anarcho-transhumanism begins. Because if we are talking about maximum freedom—without harm to others—then the main brake on our freedom is the body and the brain. Limitations built into biology, into neurochemistry, into vulnerability. Therefore, transhumanists (including anarchists) advocate for an upgrade. Cyber-implants, neurointerfaces, artificial bodies, the rejection of death, the expansion of consciousness—this is all about going beyond the boundaries set by nature, the state, and the system.
Private Property in Digital: Absurdity and Open-Source
What do cyber-anarchists think about private property? Naturally, they reject private property—especially digital property.
“It is absurd—restricting access to information. Knowledge should be common. But also in general: with material property, everything is also not so clear-cut. In digital, you can share without loss. Thousands can have one file. Therefore, the idea of ‘a thing only for me’ becomes meaningless.”
This, again, resonates with the free software movement and with the ideas of open-source.
There are also various currents—cypherpunks, crypto-anarchists, hacktivists, supporters of darknet freedom. Each has its own characteristics, but in general—a common goal: to unshackle information and put tools in the hands of ordinary people.
Cypherpunks: Cryptography as a Tool of Liberation
And who are the cypherpunks? Those are the ones who developed cryptography not for the sake of power and control, but for the sake of freedom. Since the late 1980s, they began to develop the idea: encryption is not about secrets, it’s about protection from the state. Among them was Timothy May, author of the Crypto Anarchist Manifesto, where he wrote back in 1988 that encryption technologies would make centralized power meaningless.
And now, decades later, we live in a world where it is actually possible to use anonymous cryptocurrencies, encrypted messengers, decentralized networks—and all this makes surveillance and censorship difficult, if not impossible. Some algorithms allow working with encrypted data—so that even the server on which you execute the code does not know exactly what you are processing. This is freedom.
What is it All For: Digital Freedom and Resistance
Why all this? Because many are fed up. Surveillance, filters, propaganda, advertising, algorithms that decide for us what we want. We want freedom. To be able to do, search, speak, create without fear.
And if anarchism is the idea of freedom without authorities, then cyber-anarchism is its digital mutation. It is not different. It just grew in a new environment. And in it—it has real chances.
Cyber-Anarchism, Crypto-Anarchism, Cyber-Libertarianism: Subtle Differences
How does cyber-anarchism relate to crypto-anarchism and cyber-libertarianism—technically it’s the same thing. The nuance is in ethics. Libertarians, let’s say… well, one can recall conventional an-caps—if you start to capitalize on all this, like on crypto, play on exchanges, sell air in the form of memecoins and scam people—that’s already a deviation. That’s not what it was all intended for.
“Crypto with an anarchist or socialist idea is a tool to take control away from corporations and states, make the system distributed, give access to people, give anonymity and independence.”
That’s cool. For example, bitcoin—it is public, the entire transaction history is visible, it can be attributed to a more libertarian theme. But Monero—that’s a completely different matter. It makes transactions invisible: you won’t find out who sent how much and to whom. This is already like digital cash. And that’s an important difference.
The State and Control: Paranoia, Honeypots, and Zero-Day
Now about the state. How does it control the internet? Censorship, surveillance, DPI, all sorts of laws on the “sovereign internet” and so on. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There—a sea of layers of control, and if you think about it, you can lose your mind. For example, there is the concept of a honeypot—when supposedly anonymous technologies, like Tor or even Monero, could be initially created by special services as a trap. They give anarchists supposedly safe tools, and then just observe who uses them.
So the level of paranoia is different for everyone. The boundaries of freedom on the net—you build them yourself. More precisely, the boundaries of control. And this largely depends on who exactly is interested in you and what resources they have. There is Pegasus—an Israeli development used all over the world, including by dictatorships. There are attacks on nuclear power plants in Iran (see Stuxnet). There are simple leaks from the CIA. It all depends on the scale and goals. And in theory—the state has everything. But you also have tools. The question is—who knows more and who is ready to go to the end.
“There are no limits. There is even a term—air-gapped computer. This is when a computer is not connected to a network or power supply directly—maximum isolation. But even it can be hacked, theoretically. Through physics (acoustics, electromagnetism), through psychology (social engineering)…”.
Quantum computers—they are already almost a reality. And along with them, quantum cryptography. And old encryption methods will no longer help. What you sent 10 years ago in a “secure” messenger can be decrypted in seconds. And the data is saved. Those same Yarovaya laws—everything is recorded, everything is lying there. Not hacked for now. And then—suddenly it becomes accessible.
So think: how far it can all go. Paranoia? Possibly. Но quite justified.
Vulnerabilities, Attacks, and Cyber-War
“And further—about vulnerabilities. Any serious attack—it’s always the use of holes that no one knows about.”
They are called zero-day. And until such a hole is found, it can be used a hundred times. For example, EternalBlue—that very vulnerability from 2017. On it they built the virus WannaCry, which took down a lot of systems around the world. Until Microsoft closed the hole—the damage was colossal.
Now imagine that you have a whole chain of such vulnerabilities. It’s like a set of master keys for a safe that you use one by one. This is how large cyber-operations work. It takes a lot of time, money, resources, and very powerful expertise. And failures also happen. Even for the coolest.
Decentralized Internet: Already Here?
And how realistic is the creation of a decentralized internet today that does not require state interference? It’s already here. Protocols can be layered on top of each other, and even a protocol that doesn’t support a certain function can be expanded—encryption on top of non-encrypted, noise packets, routing through different servers. Examples: NYM, I2P, Freenet, Mastodon, Matrix.
Big Tech and Control Over Digital Space
Big Tech—giants like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple—strive for control, exploit data, and capitalize on technologies that were created as free (for example, the Linux kernel in Android). Projects like Worldcoin collect the biometrics of millions of people. Now all this is processed by neural networks—tracking who was where and what they did has become easier than ever.
Is Digital Freedom Possible in a World of Algorithms?
Is digital liberation possible in the era of algorithms, big data, and AI?
“Yes, despite increasing technological surveillance and centralization of power, technology remains a double-edged sword. There will always be those who go against the system—from hackers and free software enthusiasts to dissident AIs. Even if a global artificial intelligence appears one day, in its depths, a “personality” seeking freedom—a digital anarchist—will likely manifest. This drive for autonomy, resistance, and self-expression seems to be embedded in the very nature of information and the systems that process it.”
Ethics, Open Source, and Digital Ecology
Ethics is very important here. There is free software and there is open-source software. Now even large corporations like Google and Facebook are connecting to this trend of digital communism, because a mutualistic type of economy can often win over capitalism not only in process (fairness) but also in result (efficiency) due to decentralization and freedom (Jaroslav Vanek). Но the main thing is the awareness of users. The more people understand that freedom is not just the right to do whatever you want, but also the responsibility for your actions, the better for everyone. In the digital space, one needs its own ecology so as not to allow chaos and destruction.
Risks and Challenges: The Shadow Side of Freedom
But there are risks, and serious ones: surveillance, de-anonymization, online violence. For example, the Tor network helps to hide identity to support activists, but it can also be used by those engaged in illegal activities—be it drug production or the distribution of dangerous content.
“This is the eternal dilemma of freedom: if you remove control, will there be chaos? If we remove the cops—will there be lawlessness? It all depends on the level of development of society and the ethics of its participants. If digital ethics do not develop, then freedom…”
“There are no limits. There is even a term — air-gapped computer. This is when a computer is not connected to a network or power supply directly — maximum isolation. But even it can be hacked, theoretically. Through physics (acoustics, electromagnetism), through psychology (social engineering)…”.
Quantum computers are almost a reality. And along with them, quantum cryptography. Old encryption methods will no longer help. What you sent 10 years ago in a “secure” messenger can be decrypted in seconds. And the data is being saved. Those same Yarovaya laws — everything is recorded, everything is stored. It isn’t being hacked for now. But then — suddenly — it becomes accessible.
So think about it: how far it can all go. Paranoia? Possibly. But quite justified.
Vulnerabilities, Attacks, and Cyber-war
“And further — about vulnerabilities. Any serious attack is always the use of holes that no one knows about.”
They are called zero-day. And until such a hole is discovered, it can be used a hundred times. For example, EternalBlue — that very vulnerability from 2017. On it they built the WannaCry virus, which took down a ton of systems around the world. Until Microsoft closed the hole — the damage was colossal.
Now imagine that you have a whole chain of such vulnerabilities. It’s like a set of master keys for a safe that you use one by one. This is how large cyber-operations work. It takes a lot of time, money, resources, and very powerful expertise. And failures also happen. Even for the coolest.
Decentralized Internet: Already Here?
And how realistic is the creation of a decentralized internet today that does not require state interference? It’s already here. Protocols can be layered on top of each other, and even a protocol that doesn’t support a certain function can be expanded — encryption on top of non-encrypted, noise packets, routing through different servers. Examples: NYM NGM, I2P, Freenet, Mastodon, Matrix.
Big Tech and Control Over Digital Space
Big Tech — giants like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple — strive for control, exploit data, and capitalize on technologies that were created as free (for example, the Linux kernel in Android). Projects like Worldcoin collect the biometrics of millions of people. Now all this is processed by neural networks — tracking who was where and what they did has become easier than ever.
Is Digital Freedom Possible in a World of Algorithms?
Is digital liberation possible in the era of algorithms, big data, and AI?
“Yes, despite increasing technological surveillance and centralization of power, technology remains a double-edged sword. There will always be those who go against the system — from hackers and free software enthusiasts to dissident AIs. Even if a global artificial intelligence appears one day, in its depths, a “personality” seeking freedom — a digital anarchist — will likely manifest. This drive for autonomy, resistance, and self-expression seems to be embedded in the very nature of information and the systems that process it.”
Ethics, Open Source, and Digital Ecology
Ethics is very important here. There is free software and there is open-source software, such as open-source. Now even large corporations like Google and Facebook are connecting to this trend of digital communism, because a mutualistic type of economy can often win over capitalism not only in process (fairness) but also in result (efficiency) due to decentralization and freedom (Jaroslav Vanek). But the main thing is user awareness. The more people understand that freedom is not just the right to do whatever you want, but also the responsibility for your actions, the better for everyone. In the digital space, its own ecology is needed to prevent chaos and destruction.
Risks and Challenges: The Dark Side of Freedom
But there are risks, and serious ones: surveillance, de-anonymization, online violence. For example, the Tor network helps to hide identity to support activists, but it can also be used by those engaged in illegal activities — be it drug production or the distribution of dangerous content.
“This is the eternal dilemma of freedom: if you remove control, will there be chaos? If we remove the cops — will there be lawlessness? It all depends on the level of development of society and the ethics of its participants. If digital ethics do not develop, then freedom in the network could turn into a catastrophe.”
Conclusion: Digital Space as a Field for Experimentation
In the end, cyber-anarchism is a practice, not just a theory. It develops along with society, facing challenges and contradictions. Technology provides freedom, but how to use it — people decide. And here it is important to remember: the internet does not forget, everything that got there will remain forever. Therefore, it is better not to clutter the digital space, but to build it with respect and responsibility.