It’s noisy out there. We are inundated with sensational headlines every minute, of every day. You almost could make a full-time job of sorting the fun, interesting or useful memes, feeds and reels from those that should be trashed. It’s hard to know what to pay attention to, and where to put your energy. With so much noise, chaos and division, it seems that one of the only things we all have in common is relying on the internet to help us navigate everything that’s happening in the world, and in our lives.
But the internet isn’t working.
I’m not talking about whether you have a wi-fi signal or can get online for work or school — in that sense the internet is doing its job for most of us, connecting billions of people around the globe. What I’m talking about is the magic. This amazing portal into the human experience has become a place filled with misinformation, corruption and greed. And in recent years we’ve seen those with power — Big Tech, governments, and bad actors — become more dominant, more brazen, and more dangerous. That’s a shame, because there’s still a lot to celebrate and do online. Whether it’s enjoying the absurd — long live cat videos — or addressing the downright critical, like beating back a global pandemic, we all need an internet where people, not profits, come first.
So it’s time to sound the alarm.
The internet we know and love is fcked up.
We are asking you to join us, and start a movement to create a better internet.
Let’s take back control from those who violate our privacy just to sell us stuff we don’t need. Let’s work to stop companies like Facebook and YouTube from contributing to the disastrous spread of misinformation and political manipulation. It’s time to take control over what we do and see online, and not let the algorithms feed us whatever they want.
You probably don’t know the name Mozilla. You might know Firefox. But we’ve been here, fighting for a better internet, for almost twenty years. We’re a non-profit backed organization that exists for the sole purpose of protecting the internet. Our products, like the Firefox browser, are designed with your privacy in mind. We’re here to prove that you can have an ethical tech business that works to make the internet a better place for all of us. We stand for people, not profit.
But we can’t fight this fight alone. Big tech has gotten too big. We need you. We need people who understand what it is to be part of something larger than themselves. People who love the internet and appreciate its magic. People who are looking for a company they can support because we are all on the same side.
We know it’s going to take more than provocative language to make this real. Which is why at the heart of this campaign are ways all of us can participate in changing the internet for the better. That’s what this is all about: working together to unfck the internet.
To start we’re giving you five concrete and shareable ways to reclaim what’s good about life online by clearing out the bad:
- Hold political ads accountable for misinformation: Download the Firefox extension that shares the political ads you see on Facebook to a public database so they can be tracked and monitored.
- Watch The Social Dilemma on Netflix & read our recommended readings from diverse voices: This #1 trending documentary unpacks the issues of the attention economy, and our compendium broadens the discussion by bringing more perspectives to the conversation.
- Get the Facebook Container extension: Prevent Facebook from following you around the rest of the web — which they can do even if you don’t have an account.
- Flag bad YouTube recommendations: This extension lets you report regrettable recos you’ve been served, so you can help make the engine better for everyone.
- Choose independent tech: Learn more about other independent tech companies and their products. Like shopping locally, using products like Firefox is a great way to vote your conscience online.
We’ll be updating the list frequently with new and timely ways you can take action, so check back regularly and bookmark or save the Unfck The Internet landing page.
Now, it’s time to get to work. We need you to speak up and own it. Tell your friends, your coworkers and your families. Tell the world that you’ve made the choice to “internet” with your values, and invite them to do the same.
It’s time to unfck the internet. For our kids, for society, for the climate. For the cats.
