The Internet, Warts and All: Free Speech, Privacy and Truth

Description

The Internet, Warts and All asks questions. Why are government digital policies so often out of touch and counter-productive? Why is surveillance law problematic and ineffective - and often defeated in court? Do companies like Google and Facebook really care about freedom of speech? Why are neither laws nor technology companies able to get to grips with trolling? Is 'fake news' something that can be 'dealt with'? Can these issues be addressed more effectively, intelligently and appropriately in the future? To answer these questions, The Internet, Warts and All busts a number of myths and illusions about the internet - about the neutrality of algorithms, the permanence of information, the impact of surveillance, the nature of privacy and more. It shows how trolling and 'fake news' arise - and why current moves to deal with them are doomed to failure. It suggests a way forward - by embracing the unruly nature of the internet. Cover......Page 1 Half-title page......Page 3 Series page......Page 4 Title page......Page 5 Copyright page......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 Preface......Page 9 Acknowledgements......Page 12 1.1 Warts and All......Page 13 1.2 Perspectives on the Internet......Page 17 1.3 The Internet and Law......Page 32 1.4 An Unruly Internet......Page 36 2.1 Permanence......Page 40 2.2 Conservative Party Speeches......Page 43 2.3 Why Does the Right to Be Forgotten Matter?......Page 56 2.4 Pragmatic Warts-and-All Solutions......Page 60 3.1 An Imperfect Archive......Page 63 3.2 An Unreliable Archive?......Page 66 3.3 Wikipedia as a Model?......Page 69 3.4 Embracing Imperfection......Page 79 4.1 Neutrality......Page 83 4.2 Wikipedia and Human ‘Neutrality’......Page 85 4.3 Google and Algorithmic Neutrality?......Page 93 4.4 Facebook: The Worst of Both Worlds?......Page 99 4.5 Corporate Neutrality?......Page 107 5.1 Free Speech and the Internet......Page 114 5.2 Copyright and Freedom of Speech......Page 124 5.3 Search Engines: Champions of Free Speech?......Page 131 5.4 Social Media Platforms: Champions of Free Speech?......Page 136 5.5 From Pornography to Extremism......Page 140 5.6 Critical Chills......Page 145 5.7 Restricting Free Speech to Support Freedom of Speech......Page 148 5.8 Free Speech and Power......Page 151 6.1 Privacy on the Internet......Page 154 6.2 Samaritans Radar......Page 157 6.3 Not the Exception......Page 173 6.4 The Broader Lessons......Page 175 7.1 Privacy and Surveillance......Page 180 7.2 Seven Myths......Page 181 7.3 Underlying Issues......Page 197 7.4 Rethinking Surveillance......Page 202 8.1 What Is a Troll?......Page 208 8.2 Trolling in Practice......Page 211 8.3 Solutions through Law?......Page 225 8.4 Blame the Social Media Platforms......Page 229 8.5 The Inevitability of Trolling......Page 237 9.1 Fighting Fakery......Page 240 9.2 Fake News and Fake Narratives......Page 246 9.3 Fake News Works......Page 251 9.4 Conclusions and Solutions?......Page 260 10.1 It’s Always Been the End of the Internet......Page 263 10.2 Ten Rules of Thumb......Page 267 10.3 Finding Solutions......Page 276 10.4 The Internet, Warts and All......Page 285 Bibliography......Page 288 Index......Page 297