Sun Tzu warned: ‘Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.’ In war, it prevents desperate resistance. In policy, it creates a two-tier web.

When governments tighten controls but leave escape hatches, the tech‑savvy route around them while everyone else absorbs the costs. That widens digital inequality, mutes democratic feedback, and trades real security for theater.

If we care about freedom, the answer isn’t just to cultivate workarounds for the few—it’s to insist on rights for the many:

- Privacy and end‑to‑end encryption by default

- Device ownership (unlock, repair, install)

- Transparent, proportionate laws with oversight and sunsets

- Open standards

Resilience comes from empowering users and building trustworthy infrastructure, not selective loopholes. Don’t just leave an escape—remove the walls.