CELEB
The Battle for an Open Web
The internet as we know it is at a crossroads, and Automattic wants you to do something about it. The company behind WordPress, Tumblr, and WooCommerce has released a new documentary called "Code for the People," and it's essentially a call to arms for anyone who cares about keeping the web free and accessible to everyone.
The film, directed by award-winning filmmaker Bao Nguyen, traces the origins of Automattic and its CEO Matt Mullenweg's vision for an internet built on open-source principles. But this isn't just a corporate origin story. it's a manifesto urging everyday users to take a stand against the forces threatening to turn the web into a collection of isolated, corporate-controlled spaces.
Walled Gardens and Black-Box AI: The Threats We Face
According to the documentary, the biggest dangers to the open internet come from two main sources. First, there's the rise of what tech insiders call "walled gardens". platforms and services designed to keep users locked within a single ecosystem, controlling access to their own data and limiting how they can interact with competitors' services. Second, there's the emergence of opaque artificial intelligence systems that make decisions without transparency or accountability.
These trends, the film argues, fundamentally undermine the democratic spirit that inspired the early internet. Instead of a shared commons where anyone can create, share, and connect, we're heading toward a landscape where a handful of tech giants dictate the terms of engagement.
Open Source as the Solution
The documentary champions open-source software as the antidote to these threats. Open-source code is publicly available, meaning anyone can examine, modify, and distribute it. This transparency creates accountability and prevents any single entity from having too much control over critical digital infrastructure.
For Automattic, this isn't just a business philosophy. it's the foundation of everything the company does. WordPress, which powers roughly 40% of all websites globally, was built on the principle that publishing tools should be freely available to everyone. The documentary positions this as a model for how the entire internet could and should operate.
A Recruitment Video for Digital Citizens
Let's be honest: "Code for the People" is essentially a recruitment video. It wants viewers to feel invested in the open-source movement and motivated to participate in protecting digital freedoms. Whether you're a developer who can contribute code, a business owner who can support open platforms, or simply an internet user who values privacy and choice, the documentary makes the case that everyone has a role to play.
In an era where most people scroll past terms of service agreements without reading them and accept cookies without a second thought, Automattic is betting that there's still a hunger among users to understand what's at stake. and to do something about it.
