REPORT: The Internet has serious health problems, Mozilla Foundation report finds.

The Internet Health Report, which evolved from a prototype launched in January of 2017, is not a medical chart for the Internet packed with metrics. Edited by Solana Larsen and written by Mozilla Foundation research fellows, the report is an evaluation of “what’s helping and what’s hurting the Internet,” and it focuses on five broad areas of concern—personal privacy and security, decentralization, openness, “digital inclusion,” and general Web literacy. And Facebook’s part in the health of the Internet is writ large across the report.

Of particular concern were three issues:

• Consolidation of power over the Internet, particularly by Facebook, Google, Tencent, and Amazon.
• The spread of “fake news,” which the report attributes in part to the “broken online advertising economy” that provides financial incentive for fraud, misinformation, and abuse.
• The threat to privacy posed by the poor security of the Internet of Things.

The foundation’s report isn’t all bad news—it highlights progress in affordable access and the adoption of cryptography. But the cautionary notes outweigh the optimistic ones, especially on the topic of consolidation of control over Internet content and collection of personal data.

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