What are Freedom Tech Apps & Why are they Important?
In the digital world, freedom has been the key focus of a movement that leverages technology to fight for human liberty. As censorship, data privacy scandals, and the suppression of free speech persist on the internet, many see it as a cause worth standing for.
At the heart of this movement are freedom tech apps, which provide individuals with much-needed independence from the increasing control of tech giants and oppressive governments.
In this article, we’ll explore what freedom tech is, why permissionless technology is important, and introduce five popular freedom tech apps available right now.
What Is Freedom Tech?
With its origins dating back to the cypherpunks and crypto-anarchists of the 1980s and 1990s, freedom tech is a movement that uses technology to enhance individual freedom. It promotes open access to technological solutions, regardless of one’s culture, race, gender, background, or language.
According to Freedom.Tech, a global hub of privacy tech pioneers, Bitcoin builders, open-source developers, and educators, freedom tech aims to fulfil the following criteria:
Free and open-source software
No usage restrictions
Preservation of privacy
Resistance to censorship
Freedom tech's goal is to combat authoritarianism and surveillance capitalism, as well as empower activists, dissidents, and journalists. By promoting privacy, free speech, and accessibility to digital solutions, the movement also aims to facilitate human flourishing.
5 Popular Freedom Tech Apps for 2024
Looking for alternatives to mainstream apps that offer more freedom and privacy? Here are five popular freedom tech apps you can use today.
1. X (Twitter)
Formerly known as Twitter, X is one of the most popular social media networks globally, with over 335 million users. After billionaire Elon Musk acquired the company for $44 billion in October 2022, many began to see the platform as a freedom tech solution, given Musk's stance as a free speech absolutist and his changes aimed at promoting individual freedom.
In March 2023, X made its recommendation algorithm open-source, a key move in promoting transparency. Additionally, X has 103 public repositories of open-source projects that were born at Twitter.
Despite X's commitment to promoting free speech, some of the company's actions have been criticised by free speech advocates, such as the suspension of multiple journalists and 25 accounts tracking billionaires' private planes.
2. Telegram
Telegram is a messaging app with 950 million monthly active users as of 2024. It is particularly popular among crypto projects and investors, who use it to engage with their communities.
As a freedom tech application, Telegram focuses on user privacy. It does not use personal data for targeted ads or sell it to third parties. Instead, it only stores the information necessary to function as a cloud-based service.
Moreover, Telegram has a censorship-resistant moderation policy, keeping all chats private without processing requests related to them. While Telegram’s code is open-source, its messages are encrypted and can self-destruct.
3. Nostr
Nostr is a simple, open protocol aiming to create a decentralised, censorship-resistant, global social network empowering individuals.
It uses elliptic-curve cryptography to validate messages and ensure resilience by refusing to rely on a small number of trusted servers for data storage.
As a decentralised social network, Nostr is free and open-source. Its key innovation includes relays, a software solution for sending, receiving, and storing text messages. Relays can be run by anyone with a laptop and an internet connection, making them accessible to the public.
Nostr is not an app but a network of social apps that can launch in its ecosystem to take advantage of its censorship resistance and decentralisation. It has been praised by Twitter’s former co-founder and CEO, Jack Dorsey and whistleblower Edward Snowden.
4. Signal
Signal is a free and open-source app for instant messaging, as well as video and voice calls. In January 2022, it had approximately 40 million active users.
What makes Signal unique as a freedom tech app is that it leverages state-of-the-art end-to-end encryption via the Signal Protocol to keep individuals' conversations secure. Even the company can't read its users' messages or listen to their calls.
Furthermore, Signal has no ads or trackers, ensuring data privacy is maintained.
5. Bitcoin (BTC)
While not an app, Bitcoin (BTC), the world's oldest and top decentralised cryptocurrency, is also among the most popular freedom tech solutions. With blockchain technology at its core, Bitcoin is permissionless and public, allowing anyone with an internet connection to send, receive, and store BTC without the need for intermediaries. There's no restriction on validators either, as you are free to connect your mining rig to the network to validate blocks.
Bitcoin's code is open-source, and its network can efficiently resist censorship. Due to blockchain technology's immutability, once a transaction is recorded on the distributed ledger, it can't be removed, altered, or tampered with.
On the other hand, it's important to mention that Bitcoin transactions are not anonymous. They are pseudonymous at most, as all transactions are transparently recorded on the blockchain and can be audited by anyone. Thus, it doesn't offer users as much privacy as privacy coins like Monero and Dash.
Freedom Tech Powered by Permissionless Technology
Freedom tech promotes privacy, free speech, and access to technology while combating censorship, authoritarianism, and surveillance capitalism. Apps and solutions like X, Nostr, Signal, Telegram, and Bitcoin play a vital role in enhancing freedom in the digital world.
Permissionless technology, such as blockchain, empowers individuals by ensuring decentralisation and censorship-resistance, allowing transactions without intermediaries. Moreover, blockchain and other permissionless technologies are open-source, promoting free and public access, and serving as the backbone of the freedom tech movement.
To dive deeper into the separation of business and state and its connection to Bitcoin’s true potential, watch this thought-provoking talk by gsovereignty below.
