The internet has made our lives ridiculously easier. The internet has created great wealth, great knowledge, has created new economies. Heck, the internet has even created new currencies. But like any awesome resource, it must be maintained, it must be cultivated. The concept of the internet being free and accessible to everyone is delightful, but we now know what ‘free and accessible’ means.
‘I wouldn’t say the internet has failed with a capital F, but it has failed to deliver the positive, constructive society many of us had hoped for.’ This was Tim Berners-Lee, interviewed in The Economist back in June, 2018. If Berners-Lee is feeling down, is there any hope for the rest of us?
So what are we saying?
The companies that moved fast and grabbed huge swathes of this online world have now, as of 2019, demonstrated that they cannot be trusted. They have failed to bring even the most basic offline set of values into the online sphere. Some kind of new protection, new regulation, is needed to rebuild this place we love.
For this to take shape, it’s essential to provide space for professionals working across different sectors to all intermingle and work collaboratively, to explore challenges and solutions in technology. Something that we need to encourage is a greater sense of cross-pollination between industry, and a broader view of the impact of technology, if we are to develop and create a more responsible future for technology.
To quote Mary Meeker: ‘It’s crucial to manage for unintended consequences. But it’s irresponsible to stop innovation and progress.’
Regulation doesn’t have to look like the twentieth century, but let’s remember – with honesty – the good bits of regulation and antitrust legislation. Let’s not forget the pleasure that comes from smashing a monopoly or two.
Regulation should come in the form of a loop. But an open loop, as opposed to the current tech-led closed loops or inner circles or moats, as they are referred to.
We, the people, need to engage with the tech industry, and the tech industry needs to engage with government. This has to happen in a frequent, collaborative manner on every continent of the world. And if it’s working, the mutually sustaining process will yield great things.
There will need to be finances in place to sustain this process. And it will have to be sustained, as technology will continue to evolve and the complexities of the issues – social, mental, local, global, physical, human or cyborg – will not dissipate.
Transparency has been demanded of us. In this triangular structure, we’re going to demand more transparency of the tech world.
It’s going to be tough but it’s up to us. Most of us are addicts, most of us are a teensy bit hypocritical, railing against Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Google while using their services every minute of every day. Most of us are overworked, overtired, uncertain of how to create something, unable to band together. Most of us don’t know how to support our governments or bring about change. Most Americans don’t know things are a little bit different in Europe. But small steps are being taken. New ways of dealing with privacy, new tactics to protect ourselves, are emerging. And help, in some cases, is on the way.
The companies who are beginning to help in this new trust landscape will be rewarded. There’s money to be made. The future looks bright for companies who are forgoing rapacious data mining in return for authentic communication with their consumers. But they must exist and be given a chance to flourish in a system that is not tilted towards the big players. In a centralized system, these companies will get eaten up.
We’ve got our work set out for us.
Let’s build a more trusting world.