There was a time when the Internet was open, modifiable, alive.
You didn’t need permission to experiment, no one could stop you from installing software or communicating, and the hacker ethic (sharing knowledge, code transparency, freedom to modify) was the compass guiding the network’s growth. Open source was a political and cultural act, not a marketing label.
Today, that era is over.
And it wasn’t killed by a single blow, but by a series of small legislative cuts that, together, are bleeding European digital freedom dry.
August 2025 is the perfect proof: four news stories, seemingly unrelated, instead outline a single scenario.
Each touches a different front (hardware, communications, network infrastructure, data sovereignty), but they all tell the same story: less control for the user, more centralized power in the hands of governments and large corporations.
1. Locking down hardware to “protect us”
The new RED Directive requires manufacturers to prevent unauthorized modifications to radio firmware. On paper, it protects network security; in practice, it is already the perfect pretext to block bootloader unlocking and custom ROMs.
Result: your smartphone is no longer yours. It is a terminal granted for use, controlled by the manufacturer, and potentially ready to host integrated surveillance functions.
2. Monitoring chats before you press “Send”
Chat Control is back, more aggressive than ever: mandatory scanning of all communications, even encrypted ones, directly on your device.
It’s called “client-side scanning,” but the right name is “permanent backdoor.” The narrative is “protecting children”; the real risk is opening the door to mass surveillance. Once the infrastructure is created, changing its purpose is just a matter of a parliamentary vote.
3. Controlling the roads of the network
In Italy, Piracy Shield has moved from sports to movies, music, and TV series, with lightning-fast blocks within 30 minutes. Now, VPNs, public DNS, and search engines are also in the crosshairs.
Translated: the fundamental tools for browsing freedom and online privacy are being targeted. The risk? A national firewall, disguised as the fight against piracy.
4. Pretending to protect data (while knowing it’s impossible)
Microsoft admitted to the French Senate that it cannot guarantee the protection of European data from the US Cloud Act.
The EU authorities’ response? Declaring that “the violations have been resolved” thanks to contractual clauses that American law can ignore at any time.
This is not protection: it is security theater.
The common thread: centralized control
Four episodes, same pattern:
- Locking down hardware to prevent you from modifying it.
- Inserting backdoors into your communication channels.
- Limiting the tools that allow you to move freely on the network.
- Simulating security while abdicating data sovereignty.
The goal is clear: to transform the citizen into a passive user, without the tools to defend themselves or verify what is happening behind the scenes.
This is not true security
A hacker knows it well: security does not come from blind surveillance, but from four fundamental pillars. Open and verifiable code, because transparency is the first antidote against abuse and backdoors. Documented hardware free from lock-in, because without open specifications, there is no true freedom to modify. Widespread digital education, because security is not delegated, it is learned. And finally, ownership and self-custody, meaning truly owning your devices and keeping your data without intermediaries. Everything else is just a shortcut to control, not to protection.
Why this is the decisive battle
If you accept losing bootloader unlocking today “because you don’t need it,” tomorrow you will accept inaccessible filesystems “because you have nothing to hide.” If you tolerate preventive scanning today “to protect children,” tomorrow it will be “to prevent fake news” or “hate speech” in private chats.
Digital freedom is not lost all at once: it vanishes one right at a time. And when we realize it, it will be too late to open it back up.
–Francesco `ascii` Ongaro