Mozilla Releases Internet Health Report 2020

Mozilla released its Internet Health Report 2020 Thursday, focusing on what it called “an online ecosystem that is increasingly compromised by racial bias, misinformation and anti-worker policies, but one that still has the potential to create a more just, equitable and humane society.” The fourth edition of the annual report from Mozilla focuses on three major threats to the health of the internet. Built-in racial bias is exacerbating discrimination: Mozilla wrote, “Example after example revealed that the internet and artificial intelligence are neither colorblind nor neutral,” pointing out that facial recognition technology often misidentifies dark-skinned faces, while results from search engines reinforce harmful stereotypes, and adding that the work force in the tech industry “remains overwhelmingly homogenous.”Big tech’s lack of transparency is enabling the spread of misinformation, violence and disease: Mozilla used the violence at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month as an example of how social platforms “can be used as megaphones to incite violence and spread disinformation,” and the nonprofit pushed for “radically increased transparency” to protect users of those platforms.The gig work model is trampling the rights of workers worldwide: Mozilla said people working for companies like Uber “earn astonishingly low wages, report to capricious algorithms and have little or no legal protections,” adding that they have begun to push back. Other trends addressed in Internet Health Report 2020 include: The “tech-lash” is finally bearing fruit, with tech employees leading change: Big tech companies are facing more antitrust threats, and bans on technology such as facial recognition are being implemented, as employees of tech firms are becoming more vocal on diversity, labor rights and contracts with military and law enforcement.The internet is splintering: Mozilla said there was an internet shutdown in progress somewhere around the world on every single day of 2020, adding, “Censorship, surveillance and content manipulation are closing off opportunities for people to participate openly and securely online.”Big tech is getting bigger: Seven companies predominantly controlled the internet and its infrastructure in 2020: Alibaba, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Tencent. Facebook owns four of the most used social platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Messenger From Facebook and WhatsApp. And even “smaller” tech companies, like Netflix and Zoom, rely on Amazon Web Services.The most powerful AI is inscrutable: The tech powering the algorithms behind experiences like Facebook’s News Feed and recommendations on YouTube influences what billions of people see, read and, ultimately believe, “yet they are opaque.” Mozilla pointed out, “The biggest platforms don’t disclose how they develop and train their algorithms, and there are few mechanisms to hold companies accountable for their impact in the world.” Internet Health Report 2020 editor Solana Larsen said in a statement, “In 2020, we’ve experienced firsthand how the internet is essential to survival, while also witnessing how it can irreparably harm society—from fueling the spread of a pandemic to corrupting democracy and diminishing human rights and worker rights. At the same time, the Internet Health Report reveals that there are people, policies and projects all over the world showing how it is possible to improve it.”

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Mozilla Releases Internet Health Report 2020

Racial bias, lack of transparency, gig work play starring roles

David Cohen

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David Cohen