Displaying items by tag: Internet protection

The internet can deliver inappropriate and illegal online bullying, self-harm advice, fake news, and data misuse to anyone, of any age. A Christian perspective upholds ‘human flourishing on strong foundations within agreed ethical frameworks’. These are lacking online, but things could change. The House of Lords has produced an agreed set of ten principles that shape and frame internet regulations, and a new ‘Digital Authority’ to oversee rules, with access to the highest level of Government to facilitate any changes needed. These principles are: - the same level of protection online as offline - accountability for actions and policies - transparency and openness to scrutiny - openness to innovation and competition - protecting the privacy of individuals - ethical design - ensuring that services act in the interests of users and society - childhood recognition to protect the vulnerable - respect for human rights - and education to enable people to navigate the internet safely. See also World article 6, on technology.

Global action is required to tackle the web's ‘downward plunge to a dysfunctional future’, said its inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee in an interview marking thirty years since its conception. He said people realised how data can be manipulated after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, but data breaches, hacking and misinformation could be tackled. He acknowledged that many people doubted the web could be a force for good. While he had his own anxieties about the future, he felt users were beginning to understand the risks. He thinks the principles of an open web need to be safeguarded in three specific areas of ‘dysfunction’ that harm the web today: malicious activity of hacking and harassment; problematic system design such as business models that reward clickbait; and unintended consequences, such as aggressive or polarised discussions. He said these things could be dealt with through new laws and systems limiting bad behaviour online. See also UK article 3, ‘Saving the internet from itself’.