Preston Pysh: How to Actually Get Freedom of Speech

As with most things, it’s difficult to talk about a solution if you don’t first properly define the problem. So let’s start there. Last week, Elon Musk and Andrew Ross Sorkin gave an hour-long interview filled with awkward and strange moments. For those who don’t know much about the ongoing fight for freedom of expression, this is for you. Please take a moment to watch these selected clips to see what I mean.

https://primal.net/e/note1zllssevk93a894tjx9v2e0kfj3m4f28vnr26qjvr3sg5rllnxkaq57h4nw

What good is all this? Well, as you can see, it’s about control. It’s about the establishment’s tenacity to maintain order, and ultimately the desire to control freedom of expression.

problem

The current social media environment is not only a battleground for public opinion, but also a complex web of influence and control. Complex relationships between government agencies, large financial institutions, and advertising stakeholders converge to shape and manipulate public discourse.

The term “deep state” refers to the idea of ​​a group of people who are often influential members of government institutions who engage in a desire to manipulate or control government policy and shape public opinion. why? Therefore, they are able to maintain power and control over the system. In the context of social media, this concept extends to the participation of these institutions in indirectly shaping narratives and controlling speech. After Elon Musk made Twitter private, he was able to see all the correspondence and controls running between government agencies and Twitter executives, which were captured and used strategically within the organization. click here To see the Twitter file for all the gory details.

So the next natural question is, how did these people end up in an organization like Twitter? Experience “decentralized” equity ownership in a large modern company. The ownership of the company’s initial founders is minimal and the actual control of the company is in the hands of two large ETF fund owners, also known as Too Big to Fail Banks (TBTFB). If TBTFB controls the board, TBTFB can dictate where, how, and by whom, strategic censorship operations are carried out within the communications platform. This relationship creates a scenario where the concept of a “safe environment”, ostensibly intended to protect users from harmful content, is weaponized to suppress certain topics or viewpoints. Advertisers put pressure on social media platforms to tailor their content to these broader, often opaque agendas, all in the name of keeping their brands safe. What the proponents of such control advocate is a destructive weapon that serves their interests today, but which will no doubt work against them once their political interests are no longer controlled or aligned. Talk about a fool’s goal.

““Our freedom depends on freedom of speech, which cannot be restricted without losing freedom of speech.” -Thomas Jefferson

Solution: Decentralized Voice Protocol – Nostr

Nostr, an abbreviation for “notes and other items transmitted via relay,” is a decentralized social network protocol that offers a new approach to online communication, unlike traditional centralized social media platforms. Its decentralized nature aims to address issues such as censorship and control by eliminating centralized authorities dictating content moderation policies on other platforms. If you are interested in how this is achieved technically, you can read this article to learn more.

Shortly after this new protocol was released, Jack Dorsey took interest in the project. Dorsey quickly donated 14 bitcoins (then $245,000) to protocol developer Fiatjaf to support the project. In fact, his donation came after he published a blog post talking about the need for basic internet protocols for social media. It definitely makes you curious. What did Dorsey see in his final days on Twitter that prompted this billionaire to devote his time and energy to a rather obscure and small protocol project?

Shortly after numerous client interfaces using the Nostr protocol began to emerge, Dorsey made another interesting post. He said: “Zap represents a unique and fundamentally new innovation in social media. Everything else gets in the way.”

https://primal.net/e/note1y0s6ky8tr7ldq79qa6kg92cz3hg5x5ctj9et26nx43juegkavyrqlz6d78

Now things get really interesting. Which brings me back to the point I made at the beginning. Traditional media companies, our true communications networks, are captive to their advertising revenue, which is captive to TBTF banks that are captive to government agencies. But what if that model could break down? Are you confused about how content creators and all the people who create billions of posts get compensated directly from other users?

As with all technological revolutions, how do you dematerialize large server racks, Twitter headquarters, and eliminate TBTF banking attack vectors all at once? great. Basic payment feature (called Zap). If you like someone’s post, you can casually send them 100 Bitcoin Satoshi (1.6 cents) by simply pressing a button integrated into their post.

Link to video included in article (hosted by BTCmag): https://drive.google.com/file/d/19uMMzJ1IuixjLE7i1Is0ki5meswwGfXT/view?usp=sharing

Consider the implications. Users who are impressed by a post, article or comment can express their gratitude not only through ‘Like’ or ‘Share’, but also through tangible financial support. This single action of tapping the screen can transfer a few satoshis directly to the content creator’s digital wallet. This process does not require the exchange of sensitive banking information. Instead, it leverages the power of the decentralized Bitcoin network to ensure that transactions occur peer-to-peer (P2P) without intermediaries.

Innovation doesn’t end with content monetization. This week, a company called Primal released the iOS Nostr client, which provides an interface to this free-speech protocol and a native Bitcoin Lightning wallet all in one. This turns social media interfaces into decentralized payment systems. This goes beyond the boundaries of traditional financial systems, where transactions typically require third-party verification, incur fees, and take long processing times. What Primal and other client providers can achieve with a native Bitcoin wallet is the instantaneous, global transfer of funds, making it a powerful tool for freedom of expression and commerce. Without anyone’s permission.

Most importantly, this integration challenges the monetization phenomenon on social platforms, where content creators often receive only a portion of the revenue generated from their content. Instead, the value is passed directly to the creator, recognizing and rewarding the value of the work. The dystopian Ai incentive to keep people scrolling wears thin. Especially since client providers are aggressively trying to compete with each other for the best user experience. If you don’t like your client provider, don’t worry. If you take your private key elsewhere, all your previous posts and content creations will remain intact.

When considering the broader implications of such technologies, it is clear that such approaches could herald a new era of digital interaction. This encapsulates the principles of decentralization, not only in telecommunications but also in commerce. Nostr’s promise, combined with the financial liberation provided by integrated Bitcoin Lightning transactions, sets a precedent for future platforms seeking to empower both users and creators.

“What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to attack, it no longer exists.”

– Salman Rushdie

If you liked the article, please give Nostr a follow!

This is a guest post by Preston Pysh. The opinions expressed are solely personal and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.