The document discusses how the original dream of an empowering internet has been shattered by issues like surveillance, privacy threats, abuse, and the rise of filter bubbles. It analyzes both legislative efforts to address these problems and calls for social corporate responsibility. However, it notes that laws can be blunt tools and companies lack transparency. It argues for keeping the dream alive by managing expectations and promoting civility online rather than trying to change human nature.

1. W H AT E V E R H A P P E N E D T O O U R D R E A M O F A N
E M P O W E R I N G I N T E R N E T ( A N D H O W T O G E T I T
B A C K )
D R A N D R E S G U A D A M U Z , U N I V E R S I T Y O F S U S S E X

2. A P O L O G I E S

3. T H E D R E A M O F A N E M P O W E R I N G I N T E R N E T

4. I H A D A D R E A M
• Educate
• Communicate
• Empower
• Reduce inequality and discrimination
• Bring people together
• Decentralise
• (and unlimited cat pictures)

5. “Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel, I come
from Cyberspace, the new home of Mind. On behalf of the future, I ask you of the
past to leave us alone. You are not welcome among us. You have no sovereignty
where we gather.
We have no elected government, nor are we likely to have one, so I address you
with no greater authority than that with which liberty itself always speaks. I declare
the global social space we are building to be naturally independent of the tyrannies
you seek to impose on us. You have no moral right to rule us nor do you possess
any methods of enforcement we have true reason to fear.”
John Perry Barlow, A Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace

6. T I M E M A G A Z I N E
“[2006 is] a story about community and
collaboration on a scale never seen
before. It’s about the cosmic
compendium of knowledge Wikipedia
and the million-channel people’s
network YouTube and the online
metropolis MySpace. It’s about the
many wresting power from the few and
helping one another for nothing and
how that will not only change the
world, but also change the way the
world changes.” Lev Grossman

7. C Y B E R - U T O P I A N I S M
• The Internet is unique
• Technology can save the world
• Internet empowers people
• Educated, informed, democratic,
egalitarian, globalist societies will rise

8. P E A K C Y B E R -
U T O P I A
• “Without Twitter the people of Iran
would not have felt empowered and
confident to stand up for freedom
and democracy”
• Arab spring
• Wikileaks
• Bitcoin

9. T H E D R E A M I S S H AT T E R E D

10. “ T H E D A I LY M E ”
“It is some time in the future. Technology has greatly increased people’s ability
to “filter” what they want to read, see, and hear. General interest newspapers
and magazines are largely a thing of the past. The same is true of broadcasters.
[…] With the aid of a television or computer screen, and the Internet, you are
able to design your own newspapers and magazines. Having dispensed with
broadcasters, you can choose your own video programming, with movies, game
shows, sports, shopping, and news of your choice. You mix and match. You need
not come across topics and views that you have not sought ot.
Without any difficulty, you are able to see exactly what you want to see, no more
and no less.” Cass Sunstein, republic.com (2007)

11. T H E R E V O L U T I O N W I L L
N O T B E T W E E T E D
“Smart technologies are not just
disruptive; they can also preserve the
status quo. Revolutionary in theory,
they are often reactionary in
practice.” Evgeny Morozov, The Net
Delusion (2011).

12. T H E F O U R H O R S E M E N
O F T H E I N F O C A LY P S E
• Surveillance
• Privacy threats
• Abuse and hate
• Security breaches

13. A N D T H E O T H E R
G R O W I N G C O N C E R N S
• Filter bubbles
• Post-factual society
• Growing centralisation
• Reinforcing inequality
• Copyright enforcement

14. R E V I V I N G T H E D R E A M

15. L E G I S L AT I O N A N D
C A S E L A W
• Anti-abuse legislation
• Content-filtering obligations
• Website blocking
• Reinforce defamation law
• Criminalise revenge porn
• Right to be forgotten

16. H O W E V E R …
• Authorities often miss point of
Internet culture
• Regulatory efforts often overshoot
• Law can be a blunt tool to crack
complex issues
• Conflict of rights (privacy v freedom
of speech)

17. S O C I A L C O R P O R AT E
R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y
• Moderation
• Content blocking
• Clear removal policies
• Transparency

18. H O W E V E R …
• Lack of transparency
• Conflicting commercial interests
• Lack of consistency across platforms
and across subjects
• Western bias (emphasis on Twitter,
FB, Google)

19. D E - A N O N Y M I S E

20. H O W E V E R …
• No evidence that real names policies
have any effect on abuse
• On the contrary, forcing real names in
online communities could
also increase discrimination and worsen
harassment.
• See Siegel J et al, “Group processes in
computer-mediated communication”,
https://doi.org/
10.1016/0749-5978(86)90050-6

21. B R I N G I N T H E R O B O T S

22. H O W E V E R …

23. K E E P T H E D R E A M
A L I V E
• The Internet IS a force for good
• The Internet reflects society
• Don’t feed the trolls
• Manage expectations
• The Internet IS NOT Silicon Valley

24. M A K E C I V I L I T Y G R E AT A G A I N

25. M A K E S N O W F L A K E S G R E AT A G A I N

28. @ T E C H N O L L A M A
“Be excellent to each other” B&T