1 of 25

How healthy is �the Internet?

Internet Health Report

2 of 25

Internet Health Report

3 of 25

Internet Health Report

What is it? The Five Issues Why Mozilla Cares What Can You Do?

Well first, what does Mozilla mean by “Internet Health?”

4 of 25

The internet is an ecosystem.

Internet Health Report

5 of 25

The internet ecosystem is a global, public resource that belongs to us all equally.

Internet Health Report

6 of 25

Internet Health Report

What is it? The Five Issues Why Mozilla Cares What Can You Do?

Okay, so what exactly is the �“Internet Health Report”?

7 of 25

Internet Health Report

What is it? The Five Issues Why Mozilla Cares What Can You Do?

It’s an open source initiative to document and explain what’s happening to the health of the internet.

8 of 25

Research, stories and public comments from around the world contribute to the annual Internet Health Report.

Internet Health Report

What is it? The Five Issues Why Mozilla Cares What Can You Do?

9 of 25

The report covers five internet health issues.

Privacy and security Openness Digital Inclusion Web Literacy Decentralization

Internet Health Report

What is it? The Five Issues Why Mozilla Cares What Can You Do?

10 of 25

Internet Health Report

What is it? The Five Issues Why Mozilla Cares What Can You Do?

Is it safe?

Privacy and security

Privacy and security // Story

Meet the Internet’s FIRST responders to security emergencies

Margrete Raaum in Norway is a computer systems expert, and a member and the former chairwoman of FIRST (Forum for Incident Response and Security Teams), a global network of volunteer cybersecurity experts.

FIRST – active in more than 80 countries – got its start 28 years ago when the Internet was in its infancy. “In November 1988, a computer security incident known as the ‘Internet worm’ brought major portions of the Internet to its knees,” reads FIRST’s history webpage. “Reaction to this incident was isolated and uncoordinated, resulting in much duplicated effort, and in conflicting solutions.”

Today, FIRST has a broad scope: It deploys response teams to address incidents around the world. The network creates cybersecurity tools, works on malware analysis standards and develops recommendations for Internet governance. FIRST also provides fellowships for cybersecurity experts around the world, last year in Panama, Vietnam, Ecuador and Moldova.

11 of 25

Internet Health Report

12 of 25

Openness // Story

Resisting a Whatsapp and Telegram ban in Afghanistan

Internet Health Report

What is it? The Five Issues Why Mozilla Cares What Can You Do?

How open is it?

Openness

On the first day of November 2017, with no warning, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Information and Technology ordered Internet service providers to block the messaging apps WhatsApp and Telegram for a 20-day test ban. The restriction was felt almost immediately when the following day a state-owned telecommunications company enacted the ban, cutting countless people off from the popular platforms.

The government cited vague “security reasons” for the ban, but citizens were unconvinced. They saw the move as censorship and feared the ban could be extended to other platforms, such as Facebook. It was rumored but not confirmed that the intention was to stop the Taliban’s use of end-to-end encryption of chats, a security feature of both apps that benefits all users.

The government was met with a swift and vocal public backlash, most notably on Facebook. Within days the ban was repealed and access to both messaging apps was restored for all citizens. In an attempt to address public fears, the government cited the Afghan constitution’s guarantee of free speech in its announcement of the reversal of the ban.

13 of 25

Internet Health Report

The majority of shutdowns last year occurred in Asia and Africa with justifications ranging from “reactive” in response to conflicts or political activity, or “preventive” to stop undesired activity.

Last year, nearly 7% of shutdowns were attributed to preventing cheating in school exams, while just over a quarter of official justifications fell into the broad category of “public safety.” In somewhat positive news, the number of shutdowns with no asserted rationale has shrunk.

Sometimes only mobile connections are affected, but this is often the only Internet widely available.

Shutdowns are unhealthy for the Internet. We need more legal safeguards against them, nationally and internationally. With more research and evidence-gathering to determine how many shutdowns occur and why, we can hone in on tactics and technologies to stop them for good.

14 of 25

Digital Inclusion // Story

New approaches to rural Internet connectivity

Internet Health Report

What is it? The Five Issues Why Mozilla Cares What Can You Do?

Who is welcome?

Digital Inclusion

In rural and low-income regions worldwide, including in Europe and North America, access can be slow, scarce or nonexistent. Companies and governments often consider expanding communications infrastructure simply too costly, or a low priority.

Even in wealthy cities that boast lightning fast Internet speeds and claim universal availability, residents can find themselves priced out of services.

The Gram Marg project at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay hopes to connect thousands of rural villages across India. One of their techniques is to leverage unutilized television spectrums to transmit low-cost, wide-range Internet connectivity, so-called frugal 5G.

In South Africa, the non-profit Project Isizwe deploys free, fast Wi-Fi across low-income communities through a variety of financial models: access can be subsidized by municipal governments or unlocked by engaging with a sponsor’s content. In one community, Wi-Fi vouchers are earned by recycling household litter.

15 of 25

Internet Health Report

Where you live plays a decisive role in whether or not you can dependably use the Internet. When the Internet slows to a crawl it’s difficult to do simple things like watch a video, listen to a song, or even load an article on a newspaper website. A slow Internet is not a healthy Internet.

According to open data from Measurement Lab based on over 1 billion user generated Internet speed tests worldwide, the median speeds people experience accessing content on the Internet have been getting faster in all regions since 2012.

Individual countries stand out with either higher or lower than regional average speeds, but on average North America and Europe enjoy the fastest speeds and Africa the slowest.

16 of 25

Web Literacy // Story

Django Girls: Communities of code from Argentina to Zimbabwe

Internet Health Report

What is it? The Five Issues Why Mozilla Cares What Can You Do?

Who can succeed?

Web Literacy

17 of 25

Internet Health Report

At Moment — a free Apple iOS app that tracks users’ screen time and helps them limit their app usage — the team recently partnered with the Center for Humane Technology, an initiative that questions technology’s impact on human well being, to determine what apps leave us most happy, and which leave us most unhappy.

The goal: To encourage more self-awareness about app use and offer some impetus to change negative habits.

For the project, Moment asked thousands of users (mostly based in the United States and Europe) a simple, yes or no question about the apps they use on their phones: “Are you happy with your time spent?”

An important component of the data is the amount of time spent using an app. “I wanted to find the happiness breaking point for each app,” explains Moment designer Kevin Holesh who shares regular updates and musings on Moment user statistics on Twitter.

In the case of Facebook, Moment found that point to be 18 minutes a day. Such moderate usage was found to even boost an app user’s mood. But 47 minutes veered into unhappy territory.

18 of 25

Decentralization // Story

The world’s first ambassador to technology companies

Internet Health Report

What is it? The Five Issues Why Mozilla Cares What Can You Do?

Who controls it?

Decentralization

As a career diplomat for the Kingdom of Denmark, Casper Klynge was previously stationed in Indonesia.

Now, with a team distributed between Copenhagen, Silicon Valley and Beijing, China, he spearheads a diplomatic mission to technology companies, some of whose gross incomes rival those of his entire country. He is the world’s first official ambassador to the tech sector.

The diplomatic role of the new Danish representation is not only to establish links between the public and private sectors. Klynge also wants to rethink the relationship between governments, the private sector and civil society.

“You can no longer distinguish these three actors in a traditional way,” he says. “There is a value dimension in technology that is sometimes overlooked, which is ‘How do you make sure that new technology is coherent with democratic values, human rights, inclusiveness, etc.?’ This is where I think civil society has a very important voice.”

19 of 25

Internet Health Report

Data source: Monthly active users of the most famous social networks, Statista, January 2018

*Platforms have not published updated user figures in the past 12 months, figures may be out of date and less reliable.

**These platforms do not publish MAU data, user figures from third-party reports

20 of 25

Internet Health Report

So why does Mozilla care about this? Why should I care?

What is it? The Five Issues Why Mozilla Cares What Can You Do?

21 of 25

Online life is real life.

Internet Health Report

What is it? The Five Issues Why Mozilla Cares What Can You Do?

There will be five billion of us on the Internet by 2020.

The Internet is a platform for our collective creativity, invention and self expression.

It’s also an increasingly necessary tool for basic everyday life: from banking to shopping, from accessing government services to connecting with friends and family.

Examples to choose from:

We are increasingly surrounded by connected devices meant to ‘help’ with every aspect of our lives — eating, walking, driving, growing food, finding a parking spot, running a city. This so-called Internet of Things will include 20.8 billion devices by 2020, all collecting and collating data constantly.
In 2017, residents of 26 countries experienced some type of governmental Internet censorship. Official justifications for the shutdowns ranged from national security concerns to school exams and noncompliance with the law.
4 in 10 Americans have personally experienced harassment online
There are nearly 2.5 billion people worldwide chatting, sharing stories and reacting to content on social media platforms. On average, each of these users spends the equivalent of 34 days a year on social networks. But these are’t public spaces: two companies — Facebook and Tencent — own the six top social networks.
Many of us get at least some of our news from social media, but at the same time over 40% of people surveyed across 9 countries said that they don’t trust social media to do a good job in separating fact from fiction.

22 of 25

We can make the Internet healthier.

Internet Health Report

What is it? The Five Issues Why Mozilla Cares What Can You Do?

23 of 25

Internet Health Report

What can I do?

What is it? The Five Issues Why Mozilla Cares What Can You Do?

24 of 25

Read, download and share the report
Consider whether the internet is healthy where you are? Discuss it with those around you
Engage with the research and people in the report
Contribute to the 2019 report

Internet Health Report

What is it? The Five Issues Why Mozilla Cares What Can You Do?

25 of 25

Thanks! Please remember to visit:

mzl.la/ihr

Internet Health Report