They Found a Way to Limit Big Techâs Power: Using the Design of Bitcoin
Companies inspired by the cryptocurrency are creating social networks, storing online content and hosting websites without any central authority.
Credit...Daniel Savage
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SAN FRANCISCO â Jack Dorsey, Twitterâs chief executive, publicly wrestled this month with the question of whether his social media service had exercised too much power by cutting off Donald J. Trumpâs account. Mr. Dorsey wondered aloud if the solution to that power imbalance was new technology inspired by the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
When YouTube and Facebook barred tens of thousands of Mr. Trumpâs supporters and white supremacists this month, many flocked to alternative apps such as LBRY, Minds and Sessions. What those sites had in common was that they were also inspired by the design of Bitcoin.