Digital Autonomy

The internet is known as the realm of limitless possibilities, a global network—and above all, a tool for free personal development. Natural borders or political repression could be overcome with digital hacks. Those who felt misunderstood offline could transcend time and space to find like-minded people and truly express themselves online. At least, that's how the story goes.

However, sobering reality is slowly setting in. Geopolitical shifts in recent years have turned the digital space into an arena of competition, dependency, and political influence. The global village has transformed into the "splinternet." Global internet corporations have allied themselves with political camps; they are no longer as neutral or tolerant as they once claimed to be. Dependencies, in which many countries previously felt secure, are suddenly turing into problems.

Governments now fear influence on their critical infrastructures, political debates, and elections. Millions of users fear for their autonomy because they are forced to rely on the algorithms and configurations of a few platform corporations. Vulnerable communities fear discrimination and state surveillance. Individuals and institutions alike are increasingly losing influence over how the digital world is designed: whether it is a senior citizen using AI assistance, a teenager on TikTok, a city administration, or the EU—digital agency is dwindling for everyone, even if we were never equally self-determined to begin with.

These developments are fueling discussions about rethinking our relationships to internet technologies, yet there is disagreement about how to move forward. Who or what ultimately ensures our digital autonomy? Is it bans or laws? Is it open-source infrastructures, app settings, or educational programs? Which of these issues can be solved technically, and which problems remain analog and rooted in society?

Researchers at the Weizenbaum Institute are tackling these questions across different disciplines, using a wide variety of methods and contexts. This series, Digital Autonomy, brings together current findings, debates, and research projects—whether on data protection, social media bans, digital literacy, or the global race for AI—so that together, we can better understand how the digital world can be shaped.