week 13 - how an ethical internet would look like to me.
published by Thoriso Samson on
An ethical internet, to me, looks like one where every country and culture has a real voice and presence, not just in using the internet, but in shaping what it is, how it works, and what gets shared. As it stands right now, a lot of the internet is dominated by Western audiences, platforms, and priorities. This means that the stories told, the knowledge shared, and even the values baked into websites and apps often come from a narrow slice of the world. As Laura Stein points out in “Speech Without Rights”, most of what we consider the “public” internet is actually controlled by private entities that decide who gets to speak and what gets heard. This helps explain why Western voices dominate, the platforms themselves are designed and owned by Western corporations, reinforcing their worldviews and filtering out others. For African voices to have a real presence, we need not just access, but rights to shape these spaces, something current legal frameworks and platform structures often deny, made even more difficult by international red tape and the distinction of each countries laws and regulations which make it difficult to impose any one group's polices on foreign entities. That’s not fair. The internet should reflect the full range of human experience, not just what’s popular or profitable in the West. This is especially true, seeing as how the internet shapes a lot of our day-to-day culture and opinions regarding certain topics.
A fair and ethical internet would give countries like those in Africa a sizable presence. That means people from those places get to decide how their cultures are represented, what gets shared, and how their voices are heard. If a community’s stories, ideas, or traditions are being posted online, the people from that community should have a say in how that happens. The recent Afrikaner exchange on social media is a good example of that, with Elon Musk sharing views that a lot of locals in the country did not agree with, and yet, because of his large platform and following, the country was unable to change the worldwide perspective much.
It also means shifting power. Not everything should be run by the same few companies or built on the same set of rules. And although X is far more equitable than most platforms, the problem persists, as the algorithm itself, along with the actual percentage of the country engaging on the platform, is still quite skewed towards a Western audience who may have their own built-in biases from their worldview, which may not reflect the economic, social, or political climate of the place they’re commentating on. An ethical internet would be decentralised, more locally grounded, and equally shaped by voices from all over the world. It would support content in local languages, reflect local values, and make space for the unique ways different cultures use and understand technology. In short, an ethical internet to me is one where everyone is heard, no one is erased, and no single group controls the narrative, at least not in its entirety. It would be an internet that belongs to all of us, not just to the ones with the most money or influence.