INSTRUCTION: Answer questions according to the text below.
Fake News, Loss of Privacy Are Hurting the Internet, Mozilla Says
Major challenges facing the Internet include a collapse of privacy protections, the unabated
spread of fake news, and the consolidation of power at giant tech companies, according to a new
Internet Health Report ffom Mozilla, the nonprofit creator of the Firefox browser and other open-source
software.
[05] Many people “have started to argue that technology companies are becoming too dominant;
social media has been weaponized as a tool of harassment; our personal information has been stolen:
and democratic processes have been undermined by the manipulation of online media and ads”, the
report says.
Mozilla called on Internet users to take action by learning how to better protect their privacy and
[10] to identify misinformation. [...] Mark Surman, executive director of the Mozilla Foundation, said [...]
“Consumers, governments and technologists need to push for fair competition, open innovation,
interoperability and standards so the Internet can evolve in more healthy and humane ways”.
The report says indicators related to access, affordability, and the use of encryption are “getting
a bit better”, while censorship, online harassment, and energy use are getting worse.
[15] The lengthy report [...] addresses several issues, but focuses on privacy risks, fake news, and
tech consolidation as three major issues to address.
A loss of privacy: The report looks at insecure Internet-of-things devices as a serious problem
for privacy, with fitness tracks, kitchen appliances, and light bulbs all starting to connect to the larger
Internet. The “attack surface” of the Internet is growing [...] “Do cars share our driving habits with
[20] insurance companies? Do vacuum cleaners trade in information about the layout of our homes?”.
Fake news on the rise: Recent political campaigns in the United States and other countries
have been marred by the spread of misinformation, [...] As more people get their news from social
media, they depend on websites that display the content that attracts the most attention. “This ends up
favoring headlines that scream for reactions”, the report says. Online misinformation is a major threat
[25] to the health of the Internet and all of the societies it touches because of the potential for political
disorder, undermining of the truth, hatred and rumors that spread in conflict or disasters”, the report
says.
Big tech consolidation: A handful of huge tech companies have become “intertwined not only
with our daily lives, but with all aspects of the global economy, civic discourse, and democracy itself”,
[30] [...]. These large companies have brought several benefits by helping communication, creativity, and
commerce flourish, the report says. But some of the major online companies have become “too big”.
The problem isn't that these companies have billion-dollar valuations, hundreds of millions of users, or
large acquisition portfolios,” the report adds. “Through monopolistic business practices [...] they
undermine privacy, openness, and competition on the Web”.
[35] The report calls on Internet users to take action to improve its health. Mozilla [...] asks users to model
good practices, such as learning about online data collection practices, learning how to identify online
abuse, and improve their “crap detection” skills.
Adapted from: https://www .internetsociety.org/blog/2018/04/fake-news-loss-privacy-hurting internet-mozilla-says/ Acessed on: August 22nd, 2018.
The words harassment (l. 06), affordability (l. 13) and intertwined (l. 28) mean, respectively:
