I think it is indeed an important part of the "solution".

Whenever people choose/buy a hardware device or the software they use, they collectively shape the landscape of products.

The people who want less locked digital life might choose GNU/Linux as operating system or MNT Reform as hardware device as an example. As social network they might choose Mastodon over twitter/fb/insta.

That's the only possible solution without a centralised entity deciding what you can and cannot use - which leads to even less freedom