Freedom House Industry regulators around the world have shown a shared zeal for cracking down on anticompetitive and abusive commercial practices. Major tech firms have received massive fines for failing to protect data and exploiting their market power to promote their own products. In a few countries, authorities worked with companies to make competing products interoperable and to allow users to switch among them more seamlessly. However, authoritarian regimes like those in China and Russia have taken heavy-handed actions with little regard for due process or the rule of law, reflecting a desire to further subordinate the private sector to the repressive political interests of the state. Harnessing technology for democratic values There is still time for democratic governments to pursue smart, narrowly tailored measures to protect users’ rights online. Democracies should push for greater transparency and accountability regarding platforms’ content moderation practices. Data privacy laws should focus on protecting users while preventing greater fragmentation of the internet. And competition policy should foster Global norms have shifted dramatically toward greater government intervention in the digital sphere. innovation that responds to user demand for greater personalization, security, and interoperability. Regulation should ensure that power does not accumulate in the hands of a few dominant actors, whether in government or the private sector. The emancipatory power of the internet depends on its egalitarian nature. Wherever a user is based, a free and open internet should offer equal access to educational, creative, and communicative tools that facilitate personal and societal progress. Democratic governments have an obligation to craft regulations that enable users to express themselves freely, share information across borders, and hold the powerful to account. Otherwise, new technologies may serve to reinforce and hasten democracy’s global decline. People gather in New Delhi to protest the Indian government’s use of Pegasus and other spyware to monitor citizens. Image credit: Ajay Aggarwal/ Hindustan Times via Getty Images @freedomhouse freedomhouse.org 3