Cyber Sovereignty summary
One sentence summary
Cyber Sovereignty is a political philosophy that envisions digitally-organized communities competing to create the best system of government which people select from through voluntary citizenship.
One paragraph summary
Cyber Sovereignty is a political philosophy that advocates for a world in which people of shared values connect online to form governments that take priority over national law in all matters that don't demand national/subnational organization.
These digital societies:
connect through the internet.
organize around values.
have digital citizens from multiple countries.
become a form of government for their citizens where Cyber Sovereignty is legalized.
take precedence over national laws in matters between citizens.
These "digital societies" are a new form of law, justice, social assistance and economics for their citizens, which people consent to by joining them and maintaining membership in them. Their laws take preeminence over national laws and services where the matter is between their own members.
One page summary
Real consent
Cyber Sovereignty proposes that the only legitimate basis of government is real consent. Real consent requires people have a meaningful choice between systems of government, rather than being forced to be part of a system.
Open source
In Cyber Sovereignty, anyone throughout society can create a form of government for themselves and those who share their values. They start by connecting with people of shared values and ideals online. Then, as the community grows to over 30,000 unique citizens, they have the right to begin crafting laws which can take preeminence over national law under certain conditions.
Marketplace of government?
These digital societies then compete for citizens by providing the best system of law, justice, social assistance and commerce. Internet users everywhere "vote with their feet" choosing the society which best matches their values and delivers on its promises.
Comparison
Government type | System | Consent |
Monarchy | People trust the strongest family to settle disputes. | People do not consent. |
Representative democracy | People trust the promises of politicians. | Consent is assumed based on one's remaining in a country. |
Cyber Sovereignty | People trust the results of working systems by joining the most functional system. | Individual consent by the continuous, voluntary decision to remain a citizen of a particular system. |
A key component of Cyber Sovereignty is that government should be judged by its results and not by its promises.
Government type | Accountability | Power |
Monarchy | Kings are held to account only when overthrown by violence. | Power is inherited through a single bloodline. |
Representative democracy | People hope politicians enact their will. | Power is delegated to others to speak on one's behalf. |
Cyber Sovereignty | People see the results of a system and then choose the system that works best. | Power is handed to the system that works best on the condition that it continues to work. |
The most critical component to Cyber Sovereignty is that government must be based on the consent of the governed.
International & sovereign
Digital societies are not a branch of national government but are independent and sovereign.
Adversarial
Just like people don't trust the government to decide their fate in court without a lawyer, Cyber Sovereignty is a system of government that places digital societies as a counterbalance to national governments in a way that maximizes people's rights.
Once Cyber Sovereignty is realized within a national democracy, it fights against every part of that democracy that undermines people's rights and freedoms. It does so by granting digital societies the right to oppose laws that undermine their citizens’ right as specified by the Cyber Sovereignty Charter and a nation's already-established constitutional values.
Mutually dependent
Cyber Sovereignty is a system that places digital societies in a mutually dependent relationship with national governments in a way that maximizes people's freedom and rights.
What Cyber Sovereignty is not
Cyber Sovereignty is not:
Direct democracy: History has proven this to minimize the rights of minorities to the benefit of majorities.
A revolution against national government - Cyber Sovereignty depends on the survival of the national government it's implemented in to succeed.
Why Cyber Sovereignty was created
Undermining surveillance
Cyber Sovereignty is a direct response to government surveillance, censorship and control. Unfortunately, despite overwhelming public opposition, every attempt to stop it has failed.
Time and time again, people have rallied against bills that undermine encryption, expand surveillance, and increase warrantless data collection only to find it passed against their will in a new piece of legislation.
A loss of control
Polling consistently shows supermajorities of the public oppose this surveillance apparatus, but they have lost meaningful control over government to stop it.
Cyber Sovereignty proposes a new form of government that is truly accountable to people by:
Limiting national government to essentials like border control and defense.
The progressive delegation of most other matters of government freely-chosen digital societies.
Cyber Sovereignty is designed to destroy the surveillance state by repairing government accountability once and for all.
Implementation
Cyber Sovereignty encourages building digital societies to fully test and refine their possibilities within current legal limits.
Digital societies will create digital institutions for:
Law and justice
Education
Social assistance
Etc.
Once digital societies prove their offerings and hit 20 million members, Cyber Sovereignty advocates for political action to pass constitutional amendments legally cementing this new government model as national law.
Rekindling accountability
To truly understand the concept of Cyber Sovereignty, continue to the next article: