Editing Decentralization (section)

==== Centralization and re-decentralization of the Internet ====
{{See also|Decentralized web}}
[[The New Yorker]] reports that although the Internet was originally decentralized, by 2013 it had become less so: "a staggering percentage of communications flow through a small set of corporations – and thus, under the profound influence of those companies and other institutions [...] One solution, espoused by some programmers, is to make the Internet more like it used to be – less centralized and more distributed."<ref name=newyorkerdecentralize/>

Examples of projects that attempt to contribute to the re-decentralization of the Internet include [[ArkOS]], [[Diaspora (social network)|Diaspora]], [[FreedomBox]], [[IndieWeb]], [[Namecoin]], SAFE Network, twtxt and [[ZeroNet]] as well as advocacy group [https://redecentralize.org/ Redecentralize.org], which provides support for projects that aim to make the Web less centralized.<ref name=newyorkerdecentralize />

In an interview with [[BBC Radio 5 Live]] one of the co-founders of Redecentralize.org explained that:
{{blockquote|"As we've gone on there's been more and more internet traffic focused through particular nodes such as Google or Facebook. [...] Centralised services that hold all the user data and host it themselves have become increasingly popular because that business model has worked. As the Internet has become more mass market, people are not necessarily willing or knowledgable to host it themselves, so where that hosting is outsourced it's become the default, which allows a centralization of power and a centralization of data that I think is worrying."<ref>{{cite interview|last= [[Irina Bolychevsky|Bolychevsky]]|first= Irina|url= http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/fivelive/pods/pods_20131112-0401a.mp3|interviewer= [[Jamillah Knowles]]|title= BBC Radio Five Live|date= 12 November 2013|work= Outriders|access-date= 12 December 2013|url-status= live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131215060028/http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/fivelive/pods/pods_20131112-0401a.mp3|archive-date= 15 December 2013}}</ref>}}

===== Blockchain technology =====
{{See also|Peer-to-peer|Web3|Decentralized finance}}

In [[blockchain]], decentralization refers to the transfer of control and decision-making from a centralized entity (individual, organization, or group thereof) to a distributed network. Decentralized networks strive to reduce the level of trust that participants must place in one another, and deter their ability to exert authority or control over one another in ways that degrade the functionality of the network.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Anderson|first=Mally|date=2019-02-07|title=Exploring Decentralization: Blockchain Technology and Complex Coordination|url=https://jods.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/7vxemtm3/release/2|journal=Journal of Design and Science|language=en}}</ref>

Decentralized protocols, applications, and ledgers (used in [[Web3]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zarrin |first1=Javad |last2=Wen Phang |first2=Hao |last3=Babu Saheer |first3=Lakshmi |last4=Zarrin |first4=Bahram |title=Blockchain for decentralization of internet: prospects, trends, and challenges |journal=Cluster Computing |date=December 2021 |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=2841–2866 |doi=10.1007/s10586-021-03301-8 |pmid=34025209 |pmc=8122205 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1002/9781119621201.ch1 |chapter=Blockchain |title=Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology Applications |year=2020 |last1=Gururaj |first1=H. L. |last2=Manoj Athreya |first2=A. |last3=Kumar |first3=Ashwin A. |last4=Holla |first4=Abhishek M. |last5=Nagarajath |first5=S. M. |last6=Ravi Kumar |first6=V. |pages=1–24 |isbn=9781119621164 |s2cid=242394449 }}</ref>) could be more difficult for governments to regulate, similar to difficulties regulating [[BitTorrent]] (which is not a blockchain technology).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McGinnis |first1=John |last2=Roche |first2=Kyle |title=Bitcoin: Order Without Law in the Digital Age |journal=Indiana Law Journal |date=October 2019 |volume=94 |issue=4 |pages=6 |url=https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/ilj/vol94/iss4/6/ }}</ref>