{"id":62763,"date":"2018-04-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/foxtail\/2018\/04\/13\/we-need-to-talk-about-the-internet\/"},"modified":"2021-02-08T20:16:20","modified_gmt":"2021-02-08T20:16:20","slug":"we-need-to-talk-about-the-internet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/mozilla\/we-need-to-talk-about-the-internet\/","title":{"rendered":"We need to talk about the internet"},"content":{"rendered":"

By the year 2020, over 20 billion devices<\/a> will be connected to the Internet, more than seven devices per person, most of them mobile. When we didn\u2019t all have tiny supercomputers in our pockets, it felt a lot easier to draw the line between \u201cirl\u201d and url. \u00a0Tomorrow, it\u2019s not clear if that line will even exist.<\/p>\n

Over the course of the past year for the IRL podcast<\/a>, I\u2019ve interviewed over 50 people from across the internet and around the world, with the hope of better understanding what it means to make a life here, online, and in between realities. Before we started our first season, it was almost an assumption that there was a limit to how \u201creal\u201d the internet could get. But now, the issues changing the internet are the issues changing the country, and the world. We don\u2019t have the luxury of not paying attention.<\/p>\n

People: we need to talk about the internet. That\u2019s exactly why we started IRL; to push this conversation forward. And I\u2019m encouraged by the number of people \u2014 nearly 2 million so far \u2014 who\u2019ve tuned in to IRL to listen and share their perspective on life online. \u00a0It\u2019s hard to predict what the next year (or even the next day) holds for the internet, but looking back on our most downloaded episodes of 2018 feels like a good place to start.<\/p>\n

We need to talk about information integrity. <\/b><\/h2>\n

The truth is out there. But online, it feels like it\u2019s harder than ever to find. Consider this sobering statistic from a recent MIT study<\/a>: on Twitter, lies are 70 percent more likely to be retweeted than facts. Somehow, the information age became the disinformation age. Where do we go from here? In IRL Episode 14<\/a>, Mozilla Fellow of Renee DiResta of Data For Democracy breaks down the issue. \u201cIt\u2019s not about \u201cthe truth\u201d, anymore. It\u2019s about information integrity.<\/p>\n

\u201dWe, for some reason, are abdicating the idea that it is even possible to ascertain what is true without YouTube saying, \u2018Well, is the Earth flat? I don’t know. Maybe, who are we to tell them what to think \u2018 There needs to be a push back against this just because you can’t have a society that functions when the base assumption is that everything is fraud.\u201d <\/i><\/p>\n

Platforms need to start taking responsibility for information integrity. So do we, each one of us. \u00a0Being wired together isn\u2019t enough. We need human connections, philosophical connections and intellectual connections on top of our fiber optic cables, wifi signals and server rooms.<\/p>\n

We need to talk about algorithmic bias. <\/b><\/h2>\n

Algorithms may be invisible. But when they misfire, the damage can be irreparable, particularly for the internet\u2019s most vulnerable populations. In IRL Episode 12<\/a>, we investigate the way that algorithmic bias can marginalize minority communities, and even endanger young YouTube users with flawed, and graphic, video recommendations. According to researcher Safiya Noble, we need to start rethinking algorithms.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think of algorithms as objective mathematical formulas. And yet, math, computer science, computer programming, these are languages to express ideas and concepts, and as we know language is highly subjective. And so computer language also is subjective, based on who’s writing, who’s coding, and how they want to express or point to particular ideas and concepts.\u201d <\/i><\/p>\n

When algorithms fail, they reveal something else besides intent: our own blind spots and biases. Now, it\u2019s up to us to push for accountability. Because when bad code spreads disinformation and bias, it\u2019s never something that \u201cthe algorithm did.\u201d It\u2019s something people did. That means we can still take charge of our algorithms. After all, they\u2019re here to serve us, and not the other way around.<\/p>\n

We need to talk about privacy. <\/b><\/h2>\n

For decades, the internet has come with its own cloak of invisibility. To quote the famous New Yorker<\/i> cartoon, and one of the longest running jokes online: \u201cOn the Internet, nobody knows you\u2019re a dog.\u201d<\/a> \u00a0Every day, in small and sometimes extraordinary ways, we benefit from the ability to choose our identities online; to share and explore things we might not be able to share and explore in public. \u00a0We can reveal ourselves online. But it\u2019s not always by choice, as countless users found out when they downloaded their personal data, including unsent messages and videos, from Facebook. As Tor Project\u2019s Alison Macrina said in IRL Episode 11<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cPrivacy is an essential human right. And the ability to use the internet privately is even more important than the way we’ve thought about privacy in the past, because there are so many ways that we are being surveilled and tracked when we use the internet. Too many to even know.\u201d <\/i><\/p>\n

A huge portion of our identity is formed in the internet\u2019s public arena. We\u2019ve grown so used to being monitored that we sometimes forget that there\u2019s another self, a totally private one, that\u2019s worth protecting. There was a dream when the internet was born, of a cartoon dog who could be anything he wanted to be when he barked online. That’s a dream worth protecting.<\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s talk more. <\/b><\/h2>\n

Season 3 of the IRL podcast returns this summer. I\u2019ll see you online, until we catch up again\u2026 IRL.<\/p>\n

Oh, and <\/i>if you\u2019ve enjoyed the IRL podcast and think others can benefit from tuning in, take a moment and <\/i>vote for IRL in the Webby Awards<\/i><\/a>!<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By the year 2020, over 20 billion devices will be connected to the Internet, more than seven devices per person, most of them mobile. When we didn\u2019t all have tiny supercomputers in our pockets, it felt a lot easier to draw the line between \u201cirl\u201d and url. \u00a0Tomorrow, it\u2019s not clear if that line will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1198,"featured_media":20075,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWe need to talk about the internet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When we didn\u2019t all have tiny supercomputers in our pockets, it felt a lot easier to draw the line between \u201cirl\u201d and url. Tomorrow, it\u2019s not clear if that line will even exist. The issues changing the internet are the issues changing the country, and the world. 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