We built the internet that Big Tech now rules. Let's take it back.
DTI is a nonprofit building alternatives to the platforms that got too greedy, starting with social media.
The problem
The platforms stopped working for you.
You have no control
The algorithm decides what you see. You can't turn it off, slow it down, or change what it prioritizes.
You're the product
Your attention, your data, and your time are being sold. You didn't agree to that.
Profit wins every time
When shareholders need returns, every product decision goes against you. Not toward you.
The future of the internet
Big Tech didn't create the internet. Collective human effort did.
We're replacing extractive systems with community-owned networks that work for the people, one platform at a time. No investors. No corporate greed. No reason to exploit your data.
What we've built
Three tools, one method.
Three tools, built solo in four months, on the same method: source first, human verified, no fabricated claims.
Civic AI Commons Live demo
A proof instrument. It tests whether a documented solution in one field can be found by someone working in another. Five cross-field transfers are confirmed against published sources, down from six after the method checked its own work. An earlier round of 61 proposed pairs has been retired, and none of the ones checked held up.
May 2026
TownSquare In beta
DTI's own platform: three feeds plus Friends. On Trending, posts rise on coins, a free daily allowance nobody can buy, and never on watchtime. The open problem is people controlling many accounts, not the currency.
July 2026
Ignite Civics Live, public launch pending
A civic tool that shows what the U.S. Congress is doing, in plain language. It publishes plain-language summaries for 466 of the 511 bills that qualify, meaning the ones that actually reached a floor vote or became law rather than dying in committee, plus 66 Supreme Court case summaries and FEC campaign finance data, on a published methodology with a changelog. Built by our founder.
The bigger picture
Where else could this go?
The idea behind TownSquare is bigger than social media. Wherever incumbents have turned extractive, wherever the fees keep climbing while the service gets worse, a lean nonprofit can offer the same thing better, cheaper, and more humanely.
Illustrations, not commitments. Everything beyond TownSquare is speculative and far in the future, an exploration, not a roadmap.
Get involved
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