Time to pull the plug? Or just rewire it?

Being a computer scientist who practices cyber security I know a few things about how the world works on a technical level. With my co-host Helen, we founded The Cybershow, a British podcast, to create a conversation about digital technology.

Growing older and wiser, reading more on history, philosophy, psychology and politics, I am astonished to realise just how much we have failed to integrate democracy and new technology, indeed how much they are now in conflict. As a lover of both democracy and technology this breaks my heart. Fortunately, people are realising we can have both, but to do so we must fundamentally change our leadership and whole approach to governance and technology, if we are to survive it. I heartily recommend people study Ursula Franklin and Lewis Mumford to learn more about this.

Until recently there was little interest in digital rights. That changed suddenly. First, a two year global pandemic made people hostage to intrusive and isolating technology. Then the industrial oligarchs consolidated and re-branded their most abusive, exploitative machinery as "AI" and insisted we all "adapt" to it.

Once upon a time people believed that technology brought opportunity, freedom, more choice, accessible accurate information. Once we believed digital technology brought us together.

Look around you now.

Today in London young people are on a March Against The Machines. Whether they know it or not, they are marching against technofascism. They feel lonely. Isolated. Unheard. Manipulated. Every generation has been robbed of the technological future we deserve by greedy "tech bros" who do not really know what they are doing and have led us on a merry dance.

It's not merely a question of control, it's a matter of competence. Digital technology presents many grave ecological and geopolitical hazards. We simply cannot leave it to industrialists and politicians.

It's time to take back tech.

In Britain, successive governments have sold our healthcare, policing, schools and civil service to giant US Big Tech. The problem, put bluntly, is that our digital technology is run by foreign fascists. The "AI" summit at Bletchley Park was sham to carve up Britain and sell it to the likes of Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Meta.

Bias, mistakes, censorship and sabotage is much more common than you might think. Our digital tech is hostile to people who think or live differently and it cannot accommodate diverse human values. Suppression and bias is "built-in", cleverly hidden and always done with "plausible deniability". This makes democracy impossible. It destroys trust and social relations. It magnifies power and inequality. We are heading towards technofascism.

In 2019 I wrote a book called "Digital Vegan" urging less use of smartphones and the adoption of Free Open Source Software. Today everyone wants to get their kids off phones and social media, to stop the NHS selling their medical records to a random data broker, or just to be able to park their car without some smartphone app drama. Childrens' rights are important but adults too should be concerned about their democracy, their social well-being, mental health and freedom.

A generation is finally rebelling against being forced to accept a pale substitute for real life and impingement on their technical autonomy. Their privacy is shredded. Their dignity is trodden on. New groups like "pulltheplug.uk" and "smartphonefreechildhood.org" are popping up all over. These are not "Luddites".

Let's stop the ridiculous idea that old people have a problem with technology. Everyone has a problem with digital technology. It is the youngest and most vulnerable who now have something important to say about that. At least us oldies can remember a world before technofascism. We understand technology much better because we built it and we survived without it. What has been done, can be done - axiomatically!

Hear now the voices of the sensible and moderate majority who reject technological domination. Who reject dehumanisation and humiliation. Who refuse to be bamboozled by self-described experts. Who refuse to be terrorised by threats of exclusion, of being "left behind". Who reject being made to feel stupid because they refuse to be unthinking and stupid.

People who do not want a society that requires an app and a face-scan to buy a cup of coffee or to be counselled by a box of wires because that is "more efficient".

People want a society where we are not tracked like farm animals.

They want a society with rightful privacy of communications and to use cash money when they choose.

They want parks and public places to meet and hang out, free from commercial imperatives, constant watching and intrusion.

They want public libraries reliable sources of information, a foundation of knowledge and education fit to build a stable democracy upon.

They want more say in what sort of technology is acceptable, and what systems and practices are not okay.

They are fed up with technology being something that happens to them rather than a world they participate in and shape.

We know this because at the Cybershow we ask people, and report to you on what they say.

The price of technological progress does not need to be slavery. There is no problem with technology, but there is a very big problem with the people who run it. Many are ignorant, and many more are actively malicious. Proof of that lies in the design of most common applications. It's why they hide behind "algorithms" and secret code.

Increasingly, "fake security" is used to cheat you or distract you from your actual security. Purveyors of this have their own fake "experts" and spread disinformation. Real experts trying to counter deceptive narratives have to work overtime with constant gardening to pull up the weeds and try to spread a little truth.

There are many elements of resistance to technofascism emerging but they are fragmented and focus on single issues or pet bugbears.

For example; Chris Packham cares deeply about nature, so he now spearheads a mobile phone company based on an ecology-first no-dividend non-profit.

Eben Upton has single-handedly championed the British computing industry since we sold-off ARM. Raspberry Pi devices have done for education at least what the BBC micro and Sinclair did for previous generations.

The European Commission is all set on "digital sovereignty" and Britain needs to be too. But be aware that "digital sovereignty" also means state control over technology. We think that tech should be properly governed but we must also ensure that reflects true democratic will, not parochial power. Hint: nobody votes for mass surveillance or mandatory ID.

Currently there is no proper assembly or forum for finding a direction and politicians are largely clueless about the issues. We're here to help, educate and include them, not blame them. What politicians need is genuine independent expert advice from people who take a long view. Instead they are besiged by lobbyists and spin-doctors.

Don't confuse "digital democracy" with voting machines and other nonsense. The "digitisation" of democracy is a threat to it. Stable democracies use time tested methods. Efficiency and cost is never more important than correctness and validity when it comes to elections.

The proper term for "digital democracy", as we use it, is Software Freedom. It makes no odds if the State or a giant corporation control technology if it is abusive. Technology must be determined by the people and meet the standards of a liberal, open, pluralistic society.

We have an Open Rights Group in the UK who are slowly getting more active. They pick an eclectic buffet of bugbears, but presenty seem to lack a joined-up vision for resistance to technofascism.

Most importantly there's a Software Freedom Movement that has been around to 40 years! It's based on a simple, examinable set of principles that have stood the test of time and created the foundations of modern software.

Most of the code that runs the world, and code that enabled companies like Google and Apple to even exist, is Free Open Source Software (FOSS). FOSS is software built by the people for the people. It's created mostly by unpaid volunteers and academics long before commercial organisations come to "invest" in it. Both Apple iOS and Google Android phones are based on free Unix variants like Linux and BSD, but repackaged for big-brand names.

Most people don't know things like this, and the other basics of computing history. At the Cybershow our mission remains; to join the dots, to start the conversations, to tell the true histories, to weed out the lies, to ask people on the street, to provide detailed technical breakdowns in plain English. We do this with one of the most artistically creative podcasts on the Internet, bringing in musicians, poets, DJs, visual and other authentic digital artists to complement the show content.

Our latest interviews with Aaron Balick on "Hope Scrolling" and Megha Kumar on "Tech and geopolitics" set a standard for future seasons.

Perhaps the real tragedy is that machine learning and data science have always held the potential for enormous good. As a researcher and theoretical founder in the domain of signal processing what I see "AI" as today is a scandal, a cheap insult and debasement of computer science. We're always on the look-out for positive stories, where ordinary people are using freedom-respecting open source tools that they control to do amazing things, holding power to account, sharing knowledge, thwarting obstacles to freedom and higher thinking.

As discussed in a recent episode we now see evidence that message is being actively suppressed on US social media. That's no big conspiracy or victim claim, it's what we expect, and accept. There's no use whining that our enemies don't amplify our message. It means what we're saying is hitting home and working! We're actively against shallow, manipulative US social media so why would they help us prosper on their private for-profit platforms?

But what it does mean in practice is that we must work extra hard to get out via other channels. Doing public speaking. Writing leaflets and pamphlets to distribute. If you appreciate what we do please help us get out via your preferred alternative, Gemini, Matrix, Mastodon, or whatever.

Our website does not have any cookies. We don't track visitors. We simply give you the content. That means we have no advertising or sponsors because they are all tied to the US Big Tech system. Without donations, help in kind, and people spreading the word we wouldn't exist.

If you're an expert on any of our regular topics, and concerned about the way digital technology is turning, get in touch. Among our guests we have founders, PhDs, CEOs, Nobel prize holders, CBEs. but most of all we have teachers, nurses, shop-workers, students and school-children who share their voice. Tell your friends about the Cybershow or send us a message today.