Jack Dorsey Announces Annual Grant of $1 Million to Signal Private Messenger

Jack Dorsey, the Co-Founder of Twitter, announced in a blog post on Tuesday his commitment to provide an annual grant of $1 million (approximately Rs. 8 crore) to the encrypted messaging app Signal. This grant is part of a broader initiative by Dorsey to support the development of the “open internet.”

In his blog post on Revue, a newsletter service owned by Twitter, Dorsey emphasized the importance of social media not being controlled by a single company or a select group of companies. He stressed the need for social media to be resilient against corporate and government influence.

Dorsey previously shared information about the development of the decentralized social networking initiative called ‘Bluesky’ in October. The protocol, currently in the development phase, is exploring features such as account portability, algorithmic choice, and interoperation. The Bluesky initiative will utilize the ‘Authentic Transfer Protocol’ (AT Protocol), incorporating ideas from the latest decentralized technologies into a simple, fast, and open network.

According to Dorsey, the AT Protocol of Bluesky allows users to identify themselves using compatible domain names like ‘@alice.com.’ These domain names will be linked to cryptographic URLs, ensuring the security of both the account and user data.

One notable feature of Bluesky’s AT Protocol is ‘Account Portability,’ enabling users to transfer their accounts from one provider to another without the risk of data loss. Dorsey aims to reduce the control of large corporations over people’s online identities through this feature.

Additionally, the ‘Algorithmic Choice’ aspect of the AT Protocol will empower users on Bluesky to move away from the current trend where algorithms dictate users’ online experiences on social networks. Instead, users will have the option to choose from an open market of algorithms or opt for a ‘no algorithm’ model.