Next steps for net neutrality & a Universal Basic Internet | Web This Week
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Rules repealed — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to reverse 2015 rules that underpin net neutrality in the US (New York Times). Here’s our reaction.
Dissenting heroes — The FCC voted 3–2 along party lines. Both Democratic Commissioners gave passionate dissenting opinions defending net neutrality and sending a clear message that the fight is not over (Gizmodo).
What happens next? — The fight for net neutrality will continue. There will be a host of legal challenges as well as a push for Congress to use its authority to reverse the decision or come up with a legislative solution (TechCrunch). With 83% of Americans — including 3 in 4 Republicans — against the FCC’s move, Congress has every incentive to act in an election year (Washington Post).
E-gouging — Retailers have always dreamed of charging each customer the maximum they’re willing to pay. Now, with big data and sophisticated algorithms, their dream could become reality (Prospect).
Embrace AI, give up free will — In a world of tailored recommendations, algorithms are guiding decision-making in all areas of our lives. An Op-Ed inQuartz argues that individually these nudges are of little consequence, but taken together, the services we use shape us.
What are you worth? — You know that episode of Black Mirror where everyone has a social credit score that affects the services they can use? Well, it’s happening in China. Mara Hvistendahl looks inside the country’s vast experiment in social ranking for Wired.
Privacy? Don’t bank on it — India’s Supreme Court backed a government directive that Aadhaar, the country’s national biometric ID system, be mandatory to open bank accounts. The government wants citizens to use their unique 12-digit ID numbers to access a range of services, including verifying mobile phone connections. Critics say this is a privacy infringement (Hindustan Times).
Encryption is the new normal — Once the practice of cyberpunks, spies and academics, encryption is increasingly the default on a range of online services, from text messaging and email to cloud storage and video (Wired).
Personalised privacy tips — A new tool from Citizen Lab offers personalised advice on digital security. Answer a few simple questions and it spits out recommendations to stay safe online.
Feminist Cybersecurity — The internet should be a safe space for everyone. To help women protect themselves online, Japleen Pasricha has curated nine of the best of feminist digital security guides on the internet (Feminism India).
India’s internet gender gap — Just 29% of all internet users in India are female, according to a new UNICEF report. A combination of factors, including cost and existing cultural inequalities explain the gap (Quartz).
Programming was women’s work — Women flourished as engineers in the early years of computing, but have been systematically pushed out of the field. The number of women working in computing has declined since the 1980’s in spite of inclusion efforts (Wall Street Journal — Paywall).
Dancing to Facebook’s tune — What do you do when Facebook changes its algorithm to discourage ‘fake news’? Cyrus Massoumi, whose inflammatory partisan websites made him rich, decided to ‘go clean’ and play by Facebook’s rules — with little success. Bloomberg looks at what it’s like to build a content business on the back of Facebook’s all-powerful algorithm.
The men who cry fake news — President Trump’s weaponisation of the term ‘fake news’ to undermine detractors has been a boon for strongmen and dictators who have followed suit, using the phrase as a tool to attack critics, writes the New York Times.
Defend democracy — Michael J. Abramowitz, President at Freedom House, called for action to restore trust in the internet and social media. Transparency in political advertising is one measure needed to restore electoral integrity, he said (New York Times).
A Universal Basic Internet — Steve Song, a telco policy activist, wrote about his vision for a Universal Basic Internet (UBI) that would provide basic rate internet for all mobile internet devices. This UBI could make a huge difference for billions of people still without internet access (Many Possibilities).
Shutdown in Ethiopia — The Ethiopian government partially blocked internet access to citizens amid violent clashes that have led to at least 15 deaths this week, Voice of America reports.
The Bitcoin grind — In a reminder of the risks that come with connecting to public Wi-Fi networks, coffee drinkers in a Starbucks in Argentina had their devices surreptitiously hijacked to mine BitCoin and other cryptocurrencies (BBC).
Web Foundation Founder Sir Tim Berners-Lee joined other internet pioneers in a call for the FCC to cancel Thursday’s vote to dismantle net neutrality protections. The open letter received broad news coverage, including in the BBC, USA Today, Guardian, The Verge, Engadget, Ars Technica, The Register, The Hill, CNET, Mashable, TechCrunch & Huffington Post.
Sir Tim also published a post on Medium ahead of the vote, emphasising the importance of net neutrality protections and asking people to call their members of Congress. The post was featured on Medium’s homepage and included in an email blast on net neutrality. It was also translated and published on a Spanish news site (El Diario) and quoted in a widely published AFP newswire story.
Quotes from Sir Tim and Web Foundation President & CEO, Adrian Lovett, reacting to the FCC’s decision were picked up in an article in WikiTribune.
The Web Foundation signed a letter alongside 150 groups in favour of net neutrality, calling on key US lawmakers to back existing net neutrality rules (VT Digger).
Renata Avila, Senior Digital Rights Advisor at the Web Foundation, was interviewed for Slate about what the internet looks like in countries without strong net neutrality protections.
Avila also published an opinion piece in Buzzfeed warning that big tech companies are pushing a global digital free trade agenda to consolidate their power and neutralise national and regional efforts to regulate them.
An opinion piece in the Harvard Business Review about the digital gender gapquoted from our Women’s Rights Online research. The piece was also published by the Brookings Institute and the World Economic Forum blog.
In an article about extending digital access in Africa, El Pais interviewed Sonia Jorge, Executive Director at the Alliance for Affordable (A4AI) Internet, who spoke about the work the alliance is doing to bring more people online(Spanish).
Adrian Lovett was mentioned in an article about an event we held in Jakartawhere participants discussed the future of the web and watched a screening of Foreveryone.net, a film about Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s vision for the web (Antara News).
The Guardian Nigeria published an article about new A4AI research on mobile broadband pricing data, noting that mobile broadband costs remain highest in Africa. The piece was also published in All Africa, Nigeria Communications Week, and Ghana News 24.
Computer Weekly cited the Open Data Barometer in an article looks at the state of artificial intelligence technologies in Southeast Asia.
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