Voltaire in the Server Room: An Enlightenment Critique of Modern Cybersecurity Policy

Vladimir Tsakanyan

If the great Enlightenment philosopher François-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, were to examine the architecture of modern cybersecurity, he would not see a simple technical challenge. He would see a new battleground for his lifelong crusade against tyranny, superstition, and the arbitrary power of unchecked institutions.

Voltaire, the champion of liberty, reason, and tolerance, would dissect modern cybersecurity policy not through the lens of firewalls and encryption, but through the enduring principles of individual rights and the accountability of the state.

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💡 Voltaire’s Core Ideas Applied to the Digital Age

Voltaire’s political and philosophical views provide a powerful framework for critiquing today’s digital landscape.

1. The Peril of State Surveillance and Arbitrary Power

• Voltaire’s View: Having endured imprisonment in the Bastille and repeated exile for insulting a nobleman and criticizing the French monarchy, Voltaire fiercely opposed arbitrary power and the lack of due process. He favored a government that derived its legitimacy from the rule of law and the protection of civil liberties.
• The Cyber-Critique: Modern state-led surveillance programs—often justified under the umbrella of “cybersecurity” or counter-terrorism—would immediately trigger Voltaire’s alarm. The collection of massive datasets (metadata, browsing history, private communications) by intelligence agencies, often with limited judicial oversight, mirrors the unchecked, secret power of the 18th-century monarchy he abhorred.
• Voltaire’s Suggestion: He would demand that any state security measure affecting private digital life must adhere to strict transparency and proportionality. Laws like the US’s FISA, or the UK’s Investigatory Powers Act, would need a public, rational, and fully debated defense, subject to the highest standards of scrutiny and public justification. A constitutional monarch’s power must be limited, and so must a cyber-state’s power.

2. Freedom of Expression and the New Censorship

• Voltaire’s View: While the famous quote “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” was written by a biographer to encapsulate his views, it accurately reflects his relentless opposition to censorship. He saw free expression as the engine of progress and a necessary check on both religious and political dogma.
• The Cyber-Critique: The modern dilemmas of content moderation, platform de-platforming, and the criminalization of certain forms of online communication (such as sharing encryption tools or promoting specific political views) represent new forms of digital censorship. Furthermore, state-sponsored cyberattacks that shut down news media or opposition blogs are an absolute, physical act of digital suppression.
• Voltaire’s Suggestion: He would argue that the public square—now largely digital—must be protected as a space for unfettered, rational debate. He would be highly skeptical of large, centralized social media companies acting as private censors. He would suggest that the best defense against ‘bad’ speech is more and better ‘good’ speech, and would likely oppose policy that grants sweeping immunity to platforms from the consequences of their moderation decisions unless they adhere to Enlightenment standards of due process and reason.

3. The Cult of Incomprehensibility (Superstition)

• Voltaire’s View: Voltaire dedicated his life to crushing l’infâme—the “evil thing,” which he defined as superstition, fanaticism, and religious intolerance that resisted reason. He demanded that all institutions be subject to rational scrutiny and clear explanation.
• The Cyber-Critique: Modern cybersecurity often operates behind a veil of technical jargon, proprietary black boxes, and national security secrecy. Policies are built around abstract concepts like “systemic risk,” “zero-day exploits,” and “supply chain integrity,” which are often inaccessible to the common citizen and even many legislators. This creates a new kind of modern-day “clergy”—the unelected cybersecurity expert or intelligence analyst—whose decrees are accepted as infallible dogma.
• Voltaire’s Suggestion: He would insist on the democratization of cybersecurity literacy. Policy must be written in plain language, technologies should be built with maximum transparency (favoring open-source solutions where possible), and a public body of “philosophes” (perhaps civil society experts and academics) must be empowered to independently audit and explain the government’s security measures. Reason must prevail over fear and technical mystery.

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📢 Voltaire’s Proposed Policy Changes

Were he writing a treatise today, titled Letters Concerning the Digital Nation, Voltaire would recommend the following changes to global cybersecurity policy:

1. Mandate Transparency on State Cyber Capabilities: Any government-developed offensive cyber capability (e.g., malware or exploits) must be subject to an independent, non-partisan review board—the new “Philosopher’s Oligarchy.” This board would assess the ethical cost and risk of holding or using the exploit versus disclosing it to improve global defense.
2. Establish a Global Charter for Digital Due Process: Cybersecurity policies must formally recognize that digital property, communications, and identity (data) are an extension of the individual and are protected by natural rights. Any access, seizure, or monitoring of these assets must require an individualized, publicly documented warrant, not a blanket mandate.
3. Prioritize Defensive Standards Over Offensive Secrecy: Governments must shift the vast majority of cybersecurity spending and resources from offense (cyber-warfare) to collective defense and public literacy. Voltaire believed society’s goal was progress and stability, not the ability to inflict maximum damage. The goal of a secure state is not to have the most powerful key to every door, but to ensure every door is fundamentally strong.
4. Enforce Accountability for Digital Power: Just as he attacked the immunity of the French nobility and clergy, Voltaire would demand that CEOs of mega-platforms and heads of intelligence agencies be held personally accountable for policies that violate the constitutional rights of their users/citizens. Power, in any age, must be checked by the risk of personal consequence.

In essence, Voltaire would see modern cybersecurity policy as an excellent servant but a terrible master. If it is used to protect the individual’s liberty, reason, and property, it is a tool of the Enlightenment. If it is used to create new forms of unchecked power, digital censorship, and technical superstition, it is simply the old enemy—tyranny—wearing a new, technologically advanced mask.