For Digital Tech Camp 3.10.2023

1. Charles Mok | Global Digital Policy Incubator | Cyber Policy Center | Stanford University | 3.10.2023
Technology4Democracy
The Potential of Web3 and Blockchain for Democracy

2. What is Web3?
It’s the Blockchain
• Related buzzwords: NFT (non-fungible tokens), cryptocurrency (Bitcoin etc)
• Blockchain — Distributed ledger technology (DLT): a large, distributed, database
(spreadsheet) hosted by a network of computers instead of centralized servers.
Information saved on a blockchain is visibly and permanently saved to all computers
in the network
• Blockchains are:
• Immutable, transparent, decentralized
• Permissionless or trustless (zero trust)
• Eliminate the intermediaries

3. But wait a minute!
Backing up a bit
• The Internet? The Web?
• Web 1.0 — The World-Wide Web was invented by Sir Tim Berners-Lee in
1989 while working at CERN
• Hypertext; HTML — the read-only web? “Content is king”
• Web 2.0 (~1999) — User-created content or user-generated content; the
social web — blogs, then social networks
• Centralization on platforms: Think Facebook, Gmail, iCloud, etc. — the
read/write web?

4. Then comes Web3
Or Web 3.0?
• Web 3.0 — Aka the Semantic Web, as an evolutionary concept from Web 2.0,
it focuses on making data more relatable, better linked and more easily reused
across the Internet
• Replaced by Web3 — More about using Blockchain technologies,
decentralization and removing intermediaries and directly connecting content
creators and content consumers
• The read/write/own web?

5. Decentralization
Paul Beran, 1964 described the three different kinds of networks
說明

6. Is Web3 the Democratic Web?
Privacy, direct participation, no manipulation
• You, the user, can own your data (finally!)
• Platforms are no longer the gatekeepers or gating factors
• Enable immutable and secure voting for everyone to participate in any
decision making — the ultimate democratic platform?
• Better privacy through your own blockchain-based digital ID: “allowing us more
control of our digital identities and information, while adding a layer of
accountability to help stop bad actors” (Tomicah Tilleman, investor)

7. Not all are believers
Moxie Marlinspike, entrepreneur, cryptographer, and computer security researcher
說明
• Reality check:
• People don’t want t run their own servers,
and they never will
• A protocol moves much more slowly than a
platform
• Instead:
• Accept that people will not run their own
servers by designing systems that can
distribute trust without having to distribute
infrastructure
• Reduce the burden of building software

8. Is Web3 just a hype?
Here’s what some people say….
• Sir Tim Berners-Lee:
• Supports Web 3.0 but not Web3
• “Blockchain may be good for some things
but…they’re too slow, too expensive and
too public.”
• Jack Dorsey:
• “Web3 will ultimately end up being owned
by venture capitalists”
• Elon Musk:
• “Marketing buzzword”
說明
說明

9. Call it Web3 or blockchain
There are some good applications out there
• Gyeonggi-do, South Korea: community
idea generation and voting
• Hong Kong: crypto tokens to fund writers
• National Research Council of Canada
(NRC): administration of smart contracts
from government; public transparency
• E-vox (Ukraine): Ethereum-based
election platform; local referendums as
well as legislatures at various levels
說明

10. DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization)
• A decentralized autonomous corporation (DAC) is an organization constructed
by rules encoded as a computer program that is often transparent, controlled
by the organization's members and not influenced by a central board or
management.
• Make decisions by voting; decisions executed by specifically coded rules
• E.g. raise funds by issuing crypto tokens for specific purposes with
decisions made via voting by all participants
• Exercising of investor/stakeholder rights?

11. Examples of DAO
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decentralized_autonomous_organization

12. Caution
Not all “blockchains” are permissionless!
• There are permissioned
blockchains too!
• China’s officially endorsed “Blockchain-based
Service Network” (BSN)
• “Permissionless blockchains — also known as
trustless or public blockchains — allow anyone
to join and potentially make changes to the
blockchain, so long as they are running a
particular software or a device."
• “In contrast, permissioned blockchains are
usually private and only allow certain participants
to be involved in their use.”
• “Put your trust in the government’s control”
說明

13. Other potential use cases
• Countering corruption through transparency and accountability
• Elections, referendums and other political processes
• New forms of social or commercial organizations, e.g. DAO etc.
• Protecting human rights? (How?)
• Rule of law and access to justice? (How?)

14. All about governance
Setting up the rules of the game
• “Governance” (such as those executed by blockchain-based ‘smart contracts’)
is defined by software rules
• Current research activities at universities, think tanks and research institutes
• Slowly developing….

15. Some brainstorming questions
Avoiding the Web’s previous mistakes
• How much is Web3 or blockchain discussed or understood in your country? Any development projects?
• Do you know of any useful application for blockchain or Web3 in your country?
• As our current capacity to understand and mitigate online harm is based on centralized structures, how do
we deal with Web3 applications?
• Do you think intermediaries can really be eliminated?
• The “people don’t want to run their own servers” argument again
• Does Web3 present any threats and risks for democracy?
• Who will hold the power?
• Is there a Web3 divide in democratic innovation?
• Global south? Gender? (Those who are not even on Web 1.0 or 2.0!)