> ...so I think the era of the unregulated internet is sadly coming to a close. We really have nobody to blame but ourselves.

You had me until there. Who financed the utopian bullshit? We need to regress on this until we can find the culprit and watchlist those (types of) sources of funding.

As founders you can refuse (or be highly critical of) funding by e.g. Saudi Arabia or Russian billionaires. As an early engineer, you can choose not to work for shady outfits.

It all comes down to following the money.