A new initiative, Free Our Feeds, has been launched to create a social media ecosystem that is "resistant to billionaire influence." The project aims to raise $30 million over the next three years to develop a decentralized social media platform atop Bluesky's AT Protocol, a decentralized network that powers Bluesky, a social network founded by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

The funds raised will be used to establish a public interest foundation to support the project, as well as create an independently hosted infrastructure that will give users, developers, and researchers access to content and data, regardless of Bluesky's future decisions. This move is seen as a response to the growing concern that social media platforms are controlled by a handful of billionaires, leading to potential biases and manipulation of online discourse.

Bluesky, which started as a research project under Jack Dorsey, became an independent company in 2021 and developed the AT Protocol, an open-source infrastructure designed to create a social ecosystem with interoperable apps. Despite its efforts to promote decentralization, Free Our Feeds believes that social infrastructure run in the public interest cannot be governed by a private social media company indefinitely.

Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, a supporter of Free Our Feeds, emphasized the importance of safeguarding Bluesky's underlying technology and putting it on an independent pathway, ensuring that the future of social media is not controlled by any one company or group of billionaires. The project will be led by nine custodians, including the Mozilla Foundation's Nabiha Syed and Mark Surman, who will oversee major governance decisions.

The move is seen as a significant step towards decentralizing social media, with Mastodon, a decentralized social network, also announcing its transition to a nonprofit organization. This shift away from the single ownership model used by social platforms like Meta and X is a response to growing concerns about the influence of billionaires on online discourse.

The timing of the Free Our Feeds project is significant, given the recent changes to Meta's content moderation policy and X's transformation under Elon Musk's ownership. As the online landscape continues to evolve, initiatives like Free Our Feeds are crucial in promoting a more decentralized and democratic social media ecosystem.

The success of Free Our Feeds will depend on its ability to raise the necessary funds and build a robust, decentralized infrastructure that can resist billionaire influence. However, if successful, the project could pave the way for a more democratic and transparent social media landscape, where users have greater control over their online experiences.

As the project moves forward, it will be important to monitor its progress and assess its impact on the social media landscape. With the growing concern about the influence of billionaires on online discourse, initiatives like Free Our Feeds are a crucial step towards promoting a more decentralized and democratic online ecosystem.