Juan Ortiz Freuler
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juanof9.bsky.social
Juan Ortiz Freuler
@juanof9.bsky.social
290 followers 780 following 99 posts
Emerging Tech: Law - Power - Policy
Geopolitical Cycles & Tech for Active Non-Alignment
PhD Candidate #USCAnnenberg

www.juanof.me

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juanof9.bsky.social
The Amazon Web Services outage shows how a handful of corporate players control sensitive information chokepoints.

These chokepoints can be leveraged to advance commercial or political agendas.

Here are 6 strategies Governments are using to neutralize them:
policyreview.info/articles/ana...
October 20, 2025 at 9:39 PM
juanof9.bsky.social
Newsletter #22 of the Non-Aligned Tech Movement is out:

Geopolitical shake-ups in the lower layers of the stack: Semiconductors, Chips, Minerals 🌋 nonalignedtech.net/22-geopoliti... #NAM -> #NATM
October 16, 2025 at 6:44 PM
juanof9.bsky.social
Will human rights guide technological development?
Here's a 5-part series featuring experts from around the world I curated for #OpenGlobalRights:
(Link in comment)
Screenshot of the editorial text: "The digitization of identities is reshaping how states see and interact with the public. Grace Mutung’u highlights how programs in Kenya and Uganda exclude vulnerable communities from essential services. For example, incorrect birth dates are denying elders pensions, and thousands are being stripped of citizenship, all under the guise of increasing efficiency. “Smart” borders: Despite the promises of a borderless digital world, the border walls are growing taller—and smarter. Petra Molnar reveals how “smart borders” have become systems of surveillance, exclusion, and violence. From drones patrolling the Mediterranean to AI lie detectors at checkpoints, “smart” border tech is turning humans into “problems to be solved.” Moreover, the right to asylum is being eroded at a moment in which the collapse of ecosystems and wars make the movement of humans inevitable. E-carceration apps: Carceral technologies, often marketed as humane alternatives to incarceration, are extending psychological torture beyond prison walls while stripping individuals of autonomy and dignity. Nedah Nemati and Dasha Pruss explain how ankle monitors and facial recognition systems transform everyday life into a state of constant surveillance and control. Incessant device alerts induce sleep deprivation, and bulky monitors lead to medieval-style public humiliation."https://www.openglobalrights.org/will-human-rights-guide-technological-development/
October 9, 2025 at 4:25 PM
juanof9.bsky.social
Newsletter #21 of the Non-Aligned Tech Movement is out: AI Action Plans, corporate Chin-exit🪂…and non-aligned dreams?
nonalignedtech.net/21-ai-action...
September 16, 2025 at 5:44 PM
juanof9.bsky.social
Newsletter #20 of the Non-Aligned Tech Movement is out!

–> Sovereign Tech Shifts 🔀 | South Korea’s AI Play, US-China Chip Tax, & Iran’s GPS Exit?

-> nonalignedtech.net/20-sovereign...
-
#NATM #GPS #BeiDou #WhatsApp #China #USA #EU #NonAlignedMovement
August 12, 2025 at 4:41 PM
juanof9.bsky.social
Meanwhile, in Denmark....
be like Denmark....
🇩🇰🔓🇪🇺 [NEWS: Denmark embraces open source to avoid US companies] “Denmark wants to replace Windows and Office with Linux and LibreOffice The ministry aims to gain greater control over software updates, data storage, and security while avoiding vendor lock-in. This effort is not solely about cutting costs, although reduced licensing fees are expected to yield financial benefits.” https://www.techradar.com/pro/denmark-wants-to-replace-windows-and-office-with-linux-and-libreoffice-as-it-seeks-to-embrace-digital-sovereignty
July 23, 2025 at 9:33 AM
juanof9.bsky.social
Tomorrow at 11 AM, I’ll be presenting my research on how lessons from disarmament processes can help us dismantle propaganda systems and safeguard the internet as a shared space for knowledge. #IPSA2025 – Room 4F 402
July 12, 2025 at 4:23 AM
juanof9.bsky.social
🚨 Unilateral US sanctions weaponize tech...and the world is pushing back:

• ICC locked out of email after US sanctions
• UN Rapporteur sanctioned
• Denmark dumps Windows for open-source
...& more...

👇 Full analysis in #NATM Newsletter #19
nonalignedtech.net/19-as-us-hit...
July 10, 2025 at 1:44 AM
juanof9.bsky.social
Globalization & interdependence are increasingly being weaponized to advance narrow geopolitical agendas. From #Hormuz to #Panama; #Starlink to #AppStore

As existing institutions & norms shake, policymakers scramble to:

Identify chokepoints
+Define what
CAN be done
SHOULD be done
#IGF2025
sketch of centralized networks with a point of control and different interventions aimed at solving them. Ref: https://policyreview.info/articles/analysis/infrastructural-power-state-strategies
June 23, 2025 at 9:24 AM
juanof9.bsky.social
NATM Newsletter #18:

🪖 The military turn among US tech corps
🏗️ Harnessing infrastructural power
🇨🇳🇺🇸 China more popular than the US in most countries polled
...and more-> nonalignedtech.net/18-the-milit...
Sketch of a flower blooming in between a red and a blue block
June 18, 2025 at 5:50 AM
juanof9.bsky.social
Tomorrow, at a pre-ICA conference, I’ll be presenting ongoing work tracing how Dependency theory is likely going to shape the ways in which South America approaches a Non-Aligned Tech response to geopolitical pressures and the weaponization of the internet
June 11, 2025 at 11:14 PM
juanof9.bsky.social
Heading to Denver for #ICA2025 ! On Saturday I will be dissecting how Latin American online newspapers depend on third-party infrastructure and the commercial and geopolitical risks this represents. Manuscript available on my website.
June 11, 2025 at 11:13 PM
juanof9.bsky.social
Heading to #GIGARTS2025!
I'll be presenting on #InternetGovernance & #DigitalSovereignty

1)State Strategies to deal w/ Points of Control: policyreview.info/articles/ana...

2)Threats to Informational Sovereignty: Latin American Newspapers papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Full agenda at gig-arts.eu
Figure 1 of the paper, showing networks and their chokepoints (like cobwebs with a central location) and strategies governments deploy to deal with the central point Poster version of the paper
May 24, 2025 at 4:32 PM
juanof9.bsky.social
KEY INSIGHT: Points of control move. A dynamic analysis is required
May 20, 2025 at 5:43 PM
juanof9.bsky.social
Discussion:

b) Design Choices Shape Governance
Infrastructures promote/enable/afford specific interactions
May 20, 2025 at 5:41 PM
juanof9.bsky.social
DISCUSSION:

a) Governance is shifting from consesus-driven and Global fora
to
an order emerging from the synthesis of LOCAL attempts at architectural control

(re: the "infrastructural turn" -> Musiani et al)
May 20, 2025 at 5:38 PM
juanof9.bsky.social
6. Governments can enact legislation and regulations to split large points of control to create a smaller, localised node, which is easier to manage and modulate by lo- cal authorities.
Eg. #DataLocalisation:
2000: 80% sampled countries =open data/free flow model
2022: Only 22%
May 20, 2025 at 5:33 PM
juanof9.bsky.social
5. Governments can redirect private infrastructural power to serve national or geopolitical interests. The US government’s capture of cable landing points and online platform infrastructure for surveillance shows how a point of control can be secretly exploited for strategic purposes. #NSA #ATT
May 20, 2025 at 5:28 PM
juanof9.bsky.social
4. Governments can diversify governance over points of control. Eg. The US government deployed this strategy to reduce its control over the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ( #ICANN) and increase public trust following the #Snowden revelations.
May 20, 2025 at 5:27 PM
juanof9.bsky.social
3. Governments can develop legislation and regulations that break up existing points of control.
Eg. The EU's Digital Markets Act #DMA disrupted the control app stores exercised over the mobile ecosystem: #Apple forced to allow users to side-load apps..outside of the #AppStore
May 20, 2025 at 4:48 PM
juanof9.bsky.social
2. Governments can develop protocols to neutralise a point of control. Eg. To manage the risks of a highly consolidated e-commerce sector, India developed the #ONDC, which allows buyers on one platform (eg #Amazon) to engage with sellers on another (eg #Flipkart)
May 20, 2025 at 4:09 PM
juanof9.bsky.social
1. Governments can develop infrastructure to BYPASS the point of control, thereby reducing the ability of that specific node to be used against them.

eg. Brazil’s construction of #EllaLink undersea cable to reduce its dependence on US infrastructure post #Snowden
revelations.
May 20, 2025 at 4:00 PM
juanof9.bsky.social
🏗️INFRASTRUCTURAL POWER🕸️

Just published a 🌟new article🌟 @policyr.bsky.social exploring strategies governments use to manage critical internet control points. Dive into a fresh typology and six real-world examples.

-> policyreview.info/articles/ana... // #InternetGovernance #GigArts2025
Figure 1: A typology of infrastructural responses to the identification of a point of control in the network as deployed by governments across the world (developed by the author).
May 20, 2025 at 2:55 PM
juanof9.bsky.social
📰Newsletter #17 of the Non-Aligned Tech Movement ( #NATM) is now out!

♟️🗺️Regional castling? Trump deals in the Middle East / China in Latin America + Bandung's 70th Anniversary

-> Newsletter: nonalignedtech.net/17-regional-...

📩-> Sign-up: lists.riseup.net/www/subscrib...
two king-chess pieces in front of a global map. One piece is covered by the US flag, the other a Chinese flag
May 15, 2025 at 11:12 PM
juanof9.bsky.social
These banners are essentially seeking to herd #Gmail users onto #Chrome browsers. In this way, #Alphabet seeks to ensure that its dominance in one segment of the stack enables growth in other sectors. It is an abuse of gatekeeping power at the App Gate.
More info: ijoc.org/index.php/ij...
May 8, 2025 at 9:59 PM