Digital Culture

From Agora to Banhammer: Digital Spaces Between Freedom and Control

In the early days of the Internet, Usenet was what the Greeks once called the agora: a public space where everyone could speak, and it was entirely up to the listener whether to engage—or not.

Usenet: The Digital Agora

Usenet was a decentralized discussion system. There were no central authorities, no gatekeepers, no global moderators. If you had something to say, you said it—and if someone didn’t want to hear it, they used the killfile. The killfile was simple but powerful: it let each user block specific posters, topics, or keywords. This was not censorship. It was self-curation, not imposed silence.