Interoperability is like a universal translator for the internet.

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How interoperability is central to the internet's future

Interoperability is easy to overlook. It’s a clunky word for an invisible feature of the internet, a feature most of us don’t realize we rely on hundreds of times a day.

If the internet wasn’t interoperable, you wouldn’t be able to open, read, and reply to this email. People with Gmail couldn’t send an email to someone with Microsoft Outlook. Webpages wouldn’t load across different browsers, and users seeking to explore the far reaches of the internet would be limited to only what’s available on their personal platforms and accounts.

In this newsletter, we’re exploring the principle of internet interoperability. According to Mozilla, it is the internet’s “secret sauce ([link removed] ) ,” but that doesn’t mean it’s an ironclad characteristic of the web. In fact, the internet has become less interoperable in recent years.

// What is interoperability?

Interoperability ([link removed] ) is like a universal translator for the internet. It refers to the ability of different systems, software, and applications to communicate and work together. It is fundamental to the functioning of an open and decentralized web.

The internet is interoperable through standard protocols that govern how data is transmitted and communicated.

Some commonly known protocols:

- Internet Protocol Suite ([link removed] ) , known as TCP/IP, is a foundational internet protocol developed in the 1960s and 1970s by the US Department of Defense ARPANET project (its inventors, Vint Cerf ([link removed] ) and Robert Khan, are considered “the fathers of the internet"). It dictates how data is addressed, transmitted, and received on the internet.
- HTTP ([link removed] ) (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) defines how web browsers should represent certain webpages.
- This newsletter wouldn’t reach your inbox without SMTP ([link removed] ) (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), which helps send and receive emails between two accounts.

Check out a longer list of protocols here ([link removed] ) .

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Today’s web is dominated by private platforms that disincentivize interoperable communication.

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// Beyond the internet

Interoperability predates and extends far beyond the digital realm. For years, policymakers and technologists have used interoperable standards to limit the power of corporate monopolies, protect consumers, and make connections and transmissions more seamless.

- Thanks to antitrust regulations in 1984, the US phone system became interoperable ([link removed] ) where hundreds of competitors were required to adhere to shared protocols. Today, that’s enabled a person with Verizon to call a person with AT&T and keep their number, regardless of provider.
- Interoperability is used across government agencies to communicate effectively: from coordinating efforts ([link removed] ) across different military branches to managing flooding across different municipalities ([link removed] ) .
- Physical infrastructure, like railroads ([link removed] ) , relies on interoperable railroad gauges, couplings, and track heights.

// The challenges to interoperability

Interoperable protocols that enabled a decentralized web like TCP/IP, HTTP, and SMTP were foundational to building the internet ([link removed] ) . But then things changed.

Braxton Woodham ([link removed] ) , Co-Creator of Project Liberty’s DSNP ([link removed] ) , explained it like this: “The development of protocols was so rich in the late 80s through the early 90s, and then everything became privatized, and we stopped developing these core protocols.”

In today’s internet, big tech companies like Meta, TikTok, and X are building private applications and platforms—walled off from each other and fully controlled by the company, not the user. One reason is financial: platforms make money by keeping users on their sites.

While much of the internet is still interoperable, today’s web is dominated by private platforms that disincentivize interoperable communication:

- The tweets from a user on X cannot be received and read by an Instagram user.
- The content users generate on TikTok is owned by TikTok. Users can’t take that content with them if they decide to leave a social media platform and upload it onto YouTube.

Where interoperability distributes power, network effects consolidate it. Where open, decentralized protocols give users more control over where and how they communicate online, closed platforms use that power to harvest user data for ads.

According to a 2020 report by New America ([link removed] ) , interoperability can be a policy lever for a better web. “It has a unique ability to promote and incentivize competition—especially competition between platforms—and can also offer users greater privacy and better control over their personal data generally,” the report said.

// Returning to an interoperable, open web

With greater scrutiny on the consolidated power of big tech, interoperability is a centerpiece of regulation and innovation. Regulators are enforcing interoperability, some platforms are experimenting with it, and new protocols like DSNP are placing it at the heart of their value proposition:

- Under the Digital Markets Act ([link removed] ) , the EU is enforcing its interoperability provisions ([link removed] ) with Apple and has required Meta ([link removed] ) to ensure its WhatsApp and Messenger apps are interoperable with other messaging apps like Apple Messages, Telegram, Signal, and Google Messages. In another example of European regulation to ensure interoperability, in 2022 Apple was forced to eliminate its Lightning connector ([link removed] ) on its iPhones after regulators decided all smartphones should provide standardized USB charging.
- In the US, the Augmenting Compatibility and Competition by Enabling Service Switching (ACCESS) Act ([link removed] ) was introduced in Congress in 2021 and 2022 with the intention of mandating interoperability for large tech firms. But it has yet to pass, and there is no federal policy requiring tech platform interoperability.
- Last year, Meta pledged that its new X competitor, Threads, would be interoperable with other decentralized social network sites like Mastodon. They’ve followed through on that promise ([link removed] ) , so today users on Mastodon and Threads can fully interact with each other (view, follow, post, and reply). An analysis earlier this month in the Washington Post ([link removed] ) speculated that Meta’s transition to interoperability for Threads represents “a broader strategy of embracing more open approaches in markets where it is fighting dominant incumbents.”
- Project Liberty’s Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP ([link removed] ) ) creates an open marketplace and ecosystem of interoperable apps and services that give users greater voice and choice in their online experience.

The People’s Bid to acquire TikTok ([link removed] ) would transition TikTok to DSNP via Frequency ([link removed] ) , a public blockchain that prioritizes interoperability and user privacy. It’s one example of an innovation focused on greater interoperability.

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It’s possible that the next generation of the internet means returning to the internet’s roots and tapping into its original spirit as a decentralized, open, interoperable network—a true internet. But to get there, today’s private, centralized platforms will need to create a way for individual users to regain control of their online experience.

Project Liberty news

// Nobel Prize in Economics awarded to Daron Acemoglu

Daron Acemoglu, a member of Project Liberty’s Fair Data Economy Task Force, was just awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics. The prize committee awarded Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson for their research into how institutions shape which countries become wealthy and prosperous. Learn more here ([link removed] ) .

Other notable headlines

// 🛑 An article in WIRED ([link removed] ) explained how users can stop their data from being used to train AI chatbots, like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.

// 👤 According to an article in Tech Policy Press ([link removed] ) , new research highlights X's failures to remove non-consensual intimate media.

// 🤖 In an interview with Noema Magazine ([link removed] ) , author Yuval Noah Harari explained how Al will take over human systems from within. It’s not a tool, but an alien agent, he said.

// 📱 A new study from Pew Research ([link removed] ) explores whom US adults follow on TikTok. Adult users use the platform to follow pop culture and entertainment accounts much more than news and politics.

// 🌐 AI is a rare bright spot for global governance, according to an article in Project Syndicate ([link removed] ) . A new Global Digital Compact demonstrates that at a time when multilateralism is faltering, global cooperation remains possible.

Partner news & opportunities

// Tuning Social Media Algorithms for Pro-Social Impact

October 15 at 1pm PT, virtual and in-person at Stanford University

Join the Cyber Policy Center ([link removed] ) for the installment of their Fall Seminar Series, featuring Tiziano Piccardi ([link removed] ) of Stanford's HCI Group. Piccardi will present his research on designing social media algorithms that prioritize pro-social values, such as reducing political polarization and supporting democracy. RSVP here ([link removed] ) .

// Deb Roy Seminar on social dialogue networks

Friday, October 18 at 12pm PT, virtual and in-person at Stanford University

Deb Roy ([link removed] ) of MIT will present his research on social dialogue networks at the Stanford Digital Economy Lab ([link removed] ) . Roy’s work explores how AI and digital technologies can revitalize civic discourse and foster authentic human connection. Register for Zoom ([link removed] ) or in-person ([link removed] ) attendance.

// Launching the Online Harms Prevention Action Kit

Last week, Screen Time Action Network ([link removed] ) ’s Online Harms Prevention Work Group released the Online Harms Prevention Action Kit ([link removed] ) . With teens spending an average of 9 hours a day on devices, they are constantly exposed to risks like online addiction, cyberbullying, and harmful challenges. The toolkit offers resources to help parents, educators, and communities combat six major online harms and hold Big Tech accountable.

Join The People's Bid

Did you miss last week's LinkedIn Live with Tomicah Tillemann, President of Project Liberty, and Sheila Warren, CEO of Crypto Council for Innovation? No worries. You can watch the video ([link removed] ) at your convenience (but you'll need to register).

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/ Project Liberty builds solutions that help people take back control of their lives in the digital age by reclaiming a voice, choice, and stake in a better internet.

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