In 1996, in Davos, John Perry Barlow proclaimed the independence of cyberspace from state sovereignty. In 2026, cyberspace has become essential infrastructure for democracy, a plural public space and a strategic issue recognized by states and the European Union.

Freedom of choice at risk

Yet, as in 1996, we, the people of cyberspace, are worried to see actors seize it to the detriment of the many. More than ever, the question of our freedom of choice and the democratic capacity of citizens to make those choices consciously is at stake.

More and more, our choices face foreign interference, the organization of individual and collective dependencies, hegemonic logics, relative reality, disinformation, manipulation of information, and the confusion between opinion, facts, and content.

The question is no longer one of virtual independence or isolationist sovereignty, but of democratic strategic autonomy.

As now framed by the European Union, this autonomy refers to the capacity to decide, act, and protect values without critical dependencies. We must promote it, grounded in interoperability, reversibility, auditability, and contribution to the commons.

Cyberspace, a democratic common good

We advocate for cyberspace to be recognized as a public space of general interest. So that it enables citizens to access verified, fair, and useful information and scientific knowledge. So that it gives access to plural media of public utility, to training, education, and collective deliberation.

So that it shapes and opens our minds, and that from these exchanges emerge debates and consensus necessary to the health of our democracies.

Digital infrastructure and democracy

As citizens, we believe that cyberspace falls under public and collective responsibility, and that it must be protected from market logics that exploit our attention and our data.

We believe that supporting news media, journalists, researchers, open-source communities, whistleblowers, data protection actors, information systems defenders, and guardians of encrypted communications is essential.

Fighting critical technological dependencies and regulating the hegemony of a few private actors condition our democratic future.

Free software, a lever of strategic autonomy

There can be no individual freedom of choice without a healthy and defended public space, digital or otherwise. These are the minimum conditions for the formation of informed and sovereign public opinions.

Depending on non-auditable technologies, extraterritorial platforms, and opaque standards and algorithms means accepting a structural weakening of our democracies.

It is time to recognize that open source and free software constitute a key strategic alternative to proprietary, captive solutions beyond control. They are an essential common good for transparency, security, and resilience.

These solutions must be considered levers of strategic autonomy. They must be deployed in public administrations, education, media, and civic infrastructures. This is not an ideological choice, but a pragmatic political choice, a guarantee of our emancipation.

Protecting journalism means protecting democracy

To guarantee our freedom of choice, journalistic information must be considered a pillar of democratic independence.

Faced with disinformation, informational interference, economic concentration, platformization, and the relentless struggle of the attention economy and data monetization, news media and professional journalists must be recognized and supported as holders of indispensable expertise in ranking information and sources.

They constitute an essential counter-power capable of fighting for the common good. Supporting journalism is not protecting a profession; it is protecting democracy.

Educate to emancipate

To guarantee our freedom of choice, education in media, information, and the digital realm are prerequisites for free and engaged citizens.

Understanding digital architectures, algorithmic logics, the attention and data economy, the principles of disinformation, and fact-checking methods are necessary conditions for citizenship and levers of democratic resilience, now indispensable in the era of AI.

These subjects must be taught widely to the entire population without discrimination. A democracy that does not invest in education renounces its future.

Where the 1996 Declaration proclaimed the independence of cyberspace, our time calls for another ambition: preserving cyberspace as a democratic common good.

For freedom of choice and against the appropriation of this space by a minority of actors, for strategic autonomy and against dependence. This is now the necessary condition for the survival of our democracies.