Publicly fund open discussion space on the Internet

(Image credit: pshab)

Our society already funds roads, schools, libraries, community centres and other things which serve the public good. Why not fund a public space online, free from advertising and complicated terms of service?

The cost of such a service would be minimal compared to the overall cost of the infrastructure we currently support. It could be moderated by promoting people who have established themselves as leaders of their community.

We desparately need somewhere online where we can discuss ideas openly without being the product, without being advertised to non-stop. If this Internet thing is to be something with which we promote and discuss democracy, then we need some democratic space set up within it.

Twitter, Facebook, Google are useful services, but their corporate model ensures that they view you as a product and that isn’t healthy for democracy.

Would it be messy? You bet, but then so is democracy.