Alternative internet(s)

There has, for some time now, been a desire for an internet that is different from what could be described as the dominant internet, associated with Big Tech. This movement for an alternative internet, or at least for alternative platforms or infrastructures, is evidenced through the promotion of open-source software and the opposition to data surveillance, to the opacity of corporate platform governance and, more recently, to the soft line these platforms take regarding far right-wing movements. As an introduction to this issue of Réseauxfocusing on this theme, the article sets out to broadly define the concept of alternative internet(s) and existing research on the subject, at the interface between several fields, including alternative media, open-source software, and internet studies. Drawing on the articles in this issue, it also addresses the socio-technical, political, and methodological implications of digital alternatives.