Cyberlibertarianism: When 'Freedom' Is Just Another Word for Hypocrisy

Cyberlibertarianism is like a promise of free beer at a conference: sounds great until you realize someone’s paying — and it’s probably you. Mat Duggan’s article pulls back the curtain on an uncomfortable truth: the folks shouting loudest about internet freedom are often the first to build walled gardens and hoard data.

Double standards everywhere

Duggan reminds us that many cyberlibertarian gurus are the founders of megacorps that made billions from ads, tracking, and closed ecosystems. “Freedom” for them means “do whatever you want as long as it makes us money.” Sound familiar? It’s like that colleague who preaches open source but keeps their own code under lock and key.

For developers, this hits close to home: we write code that should be open, only to see it wrapped in proprietary layers. Or we’re told “decentralization is everything,” but then forced to log in via Google.

So what? Don’t take it at face value

The article doesn’t offer silver bullets, but it makes you think: maybe it’s time to stop worshiping “absolute freedom” and admit every service is a trade-off. Like the old joke about free cheese: it only exists in a mousetrap.

METABYTE studio comment: We’re all for freedom — but honest freedom. When you start a project, remember: even the most liberal code can end up in a corporate machine. Better to architect something that won’t betray your ideals — at least until the first refactor.