The Public Interest Internet: Transnational Digital Public Infrastructure, Tech Governance, and Industrial Policy

Submission statement:

The OP contains a good enough opener IMO:

> Allow me to open with a wildly speculative question: What if the internet were public interest technology? I mean “internet” the way most people understand it, which is to say our whole digital sphere, and by “public interest” I don’t mean tinkering at the margins to reduce harm from some bad actors or painting some glossy ethics principles atop a pile of exploitative rent-seeking — I mean through and through, warts and all, an internet that works in support of a credible, pragmatic definition of the common good.1

> Is that too wildly speculative? I think not. I am not talking about a utopian project here — a public interest internet would be a glorious imperfect mess and it would be far from problem-free. But while there is a lot of solid thinking about various digital issues or pieces of internet infrastructure (much of which I rely upon here), including a great blog series from Danny O’Brien and friends, I have yet to read to an answer to this question: What global digital architecture should we assemble if we take seriously the idea that the internet should be public interest technology?