Editor’s Note:  This is part 2 of a 3-part piece we hope will spark conversations about the future of our online lives. This is a fictional account of what could happen in 2013 based on issues laid out in Part 1, the fight for Internet freedom.  Part 3 imagines a bleaker scenario.

January 1, 2014

MANILA, Philippines – At Rappler, we believe tomorrow begins today. The future is determined by the actions we take this year, and the occurrences in 2015 will be vastly different depending on how people everywhere act in 2014.

As many of you perhaps realize, one of the most important things to maintaining the growth of an Internet based social news network like Rappler is the freedom to be who we are on the Internet. Creating change in a community as large as the world stage is difficult, not only because individuals can be resistant to change, but also because frameworks in society exist that can make change difficult without necessarily toppling the existing structures that have maintained relative order.

2013 was a blessing for us, in this case, as we were able to help people keep a vigil on maintaining Internet freedoms and report on important matters pertaining to the Philippines and the world without compromising our vision of creating social change.

The Cybercrime law didn’t pass muster after the temporary restraining order was lifted. For some reason, what the people of the world wanted, it got. When the people, in one voice, told the governments of the world that it wanted the Internet to remain free, the wheels of change began to turn. The world doesn’t change overnight though, and while the Internet remained free, the issues surrounding humanity persisted.

While the Philippines was coming to terms with an Internet that needed to be remain free, we were covering the Philippine elections and keeping tabs on people who would seek to bring violence into the proceedings. While the world was struggling with the realization that the open exchange of information could bring about new paradigms of thought, Rappler was bringing people together from around the world in shaping a better future for the Philippines and the global community.

To celebrate the arrival of 2014, we’ve upgraded our systems to handle an influx of traffic. More importantly, we’ll keep working to give you up-to-date coverage that provides insight into how the world changes from day to day.

Thank you for sharing 2013 with us, and we hope you can start making ripples in your community today. – Rappler.com

The fight for Internet freedom will galvanize in 2013.  This is an imagined future where citizens in the Philippines and around the world vigilantly protect their freedom. If you’d like to see a future without Internet freedom, we have that for you as well. The future depends on you.