Jabber/XMPP: A Quarter Century of Digital Autonomy

By Daniel Gultsch | August 24, 2026 | ⏱️ 9 min read

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The Philosophy of Infrastructure

"We should own our infrastructure."

Most people instinctively agree with this sentiment. However, the definition of "we" fluctuates based on the scale of the system in question:

• National Scale: Bridges, railways, and highways require the resources of a sovereign state.
• Municipal Scale: Water systems are typically managed by local city governments.
• Individual/Local Scale: Home ownership is a common aspiration, though this can be achieved through cooperatives or city-managed housing.

We generally view the privatization of essential services with suspicion. For instance, the notion of selling public water supplies to a corporation like Nestlé is widely rejected, and the landlord class is frequently vilified. Furthermore, many criticize the "neo-colonialism" practiced by China, where the state buys or builds infrastructure within other sovereign nations to exert influence.

The European Blind Spot

For too long, Europe failed to apply these same standards to digital services. This happened for two reasons:

1. Europe mistakenly viewed American tech giants as part of a collective "we"—a delusion that persisted for years and was finally shattered by the current Trump administration.
2. Europe simply didn't categorize digital services as infrastructure.

While the current trend of anti-Americanism fuels the "digital sovereignty" movement, Europe must avoid the trap of merely swapping US corporations for EU ones. The goal should be collective ownership.

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The "Replaceable Vendor" Model

In a capitalist framework, profit-driven firms will always be involved in building infrastructure. The key is ensuring they are easily replaceable.

Hardware vs. Software

The physical Internet is largely built on open standards. A data center operator can mix and match:

• Servers from Vendor A
• Switches from Vendor B
• Routers from Vendor C
• Backbone Providers from Vendor D

If one vendor becomes predatory or goes bankrupt, the operator simply buys the next generation of hardware from someone else. This is supply chain independence.

Yet, we fail to apply this logic to communication—the fourth most vital human activity after breathing, eating, and reproducing.

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The Illusion of Ethical Walled Gardens

Privacy advocates often champion apps like Signal, Wire, or Threema because they are more ethical than Big Tech. However, these are still walled gardens.

While it is a positive step that these tools aren't spyware (unlike Meta's WhatsApp) and utilize strong end-to-end encryption, they offer no "escape hatch." If Signal suddenly ceased EU operations or shut down its servers, the users would be stranded.

Critical concerns regarding Signal include:

• High executive compensation (CEO earning nearly $1M/year).
• Reliance on centralized infrastructure (running on AWS).
• Lack of a federated fallback.

Open-source code is a start, but it is not a complete solution for infrastructure. True sovereignty requires a system where self-hosting is structurally possible, even if it isn't mandatory.

$\text{Digital Sovereignty} = \text{Open Standards} + \text{Federation} + \text{Self-Hosting Capability}$

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Enter XMPP: The Standard for Independence

The Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) is a communication standard designed for exactly this purpose. It wasn't built for a specific trend, but for long-term interoperability.

The Role of SDOs

To prevent a single company from dominating a protocol, we use Standards-Developing Organizations (SDOs). These bodies ensure that no single entity can push a standard that unfairly excludes competitors.

Examples of SDOs:

• ISO (International Organization for Standardization)
• IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force)
• W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)
• Unicode Consortium

There is a massive difference between a company providing an API (which they control) and a collective of stakeholders developing a standard via an SDO. The IETF succeeds because it forces diverse parties with conflicting interests to reach a consensus.

Conceptual Architecture: Walled Garden vs. XMPP

Technical Implementation

XMPP relies on XML streams. A basic stanza might look like this:

<message from='juliet@capulet.lit' to='romeo@montague.lit'>
  <body>I love you!</body>
</message>

By adhering to these open rules, we ensure that if one service provider fails, the network survives. Other projects, such as Element (formerly Riot/NewVector), attempt to provide similar federation and self-hosting capabilities, continuing the push toward a decentralized future.