Autistici/inventati: Manifesto – who we are and what do we want (2002)

This manifesto is a time capsule from an era when the internet still felt like a wild frontier—before Gmail, before mass surveillance disclosures, before "privacy" became a product you buy from Apple. Autistici/inventati didn't just want encrypted tools; they wanted to build a counter-infrastructure, a parallel world where communication wasn't mediated by profit or power. That's a radically different stance from today's "privacy tech" industry, which often sells individual protection within the existing system rather than challenging the system itself. What's striking is how prescient they were. In 2002, they warned about the "digital divide" and the illusion of free speech on corporate platforms. Two decades later, we see the consequences: surveillance capitalism, algorithmic control, and the weaponization of data against exactly the kind of movements they supported. Their insistence on self-managed, non-commercial servers feels almost quaint now, but it's also a reminder that alternatives exist—and that they require maintenance, not just enthusiasm. The comment thread on Hacker News (50 points, 24 comments) likely sparked debates about the feasibility of such projects, their relevance today, and the ethics of anonymity. But the manifesto's core demand—that technology should serve emancipation, not accumulation—remains as urgent as ever. Autistici/inventati are not nostalgic; they're stubborn. And in a world where every click is mined, that stubbornness is a form of resistance.