Stream of the Day
‘Code for the People’ confronts web crisis
A new documentary warns that growing control by major platforms and closed AI systems could undermine the open internet.
The open web is arguably the world’s most vital invisible utility – and it is under siege. This forms the core of Code for the People, a new documentary directed by Bao Nguyen (BTS: The Return, Be Water, The Greatest Night in Pop).
“We have traded a free internet for a collection of walled gardens,” says Automattic, the web development company that funded and produced the film. “Today, a handful of digital landlords use algorithms to dictate our reality, while closed AI threatens to change the ways we connect. We are at a breaking point: we can either let gatekeepers continue to consolidate their power, or we can reclaim the open source spirit that built the web in the first place.”
Code for the People examines the past, present and contested future of the open web. The short explores how decisions made today could shape the internet and argues that public action is needed to protect online openness.
“While more than 40% of the internet runs on open source WordPress, this film is about something much bigger than software. It is a cinematic interrogation of what the internet is actually for, who gets to own it, and what it takes to keep it free.”
The project aims to explain open source software, including key terminology, historical development and possible future directions. The initiative seeks to encourage wider participation in global communities that build, use and maintain software that remains freely accessible across borders.
Code for the People provides the following ways for people to participate:
- Move one thing – Pick one piece of your digital life and bring it to an open platform. A newsletter. A portfolio. A blog. One move is enough to start. Find an open platform here.
- Own your home on the internet – Register a domain. Publish something. Stop renting space on someone else’s platform and own your corner of the web. Learn WordPress here.
- Contribute something back – Code, documentation, translation, testing, or a donation. If you use open-source tools, water the garden. Find your project’s “good first issue” and show up. Start contributing here.
- Back organisations that defend open source – Mozilla. Internet Archive. Electronic Frontier Foundation. Creative Commons. WordPress Foundation. These are the institutions holding the open web together. Support them. Find an organisation to support here.
- Connect with people who share your passion – Run a screening. Assign the film. Write about it. The movement grows every time the conversation does. Find your people here.
The project presents a call to action for people to contribute to the open web by joining the WordPress community or supporting another open source project. The initiative highlights the existing work of developers, designers, writers and other contributors who build software, maintain projects and organise local communities.
Kenneth Nguyen produced the film, while Sue Ding and Sarah Garrahan handled editing. Gene Back composed the music, and the documentary features Automattic co-founder Matt Mullenweg alongside people who build and support the open web.
* Join the WordPress community here.
* Support another Open Source project here.
