Democracy

Mozilla urges imposition of private-controlled censorship

09/01/2021

Mozilla says ‘deplatforming’ Trump isn’t enough, wants to shield internet from ‘bad actors’ as users uninstall Firefox in disgust

9 Jan, 2021

Mozilla, developer of the Firefox internet browser, has argued that more must be done to keep Donald Trump and other “bad actors” out of cyberspace, prompting many to vow to never use the group’s services again.

In a blog post titled ‘We need more than deplatforming’, the open-source software community said that Twitter’s decision to permanently ban Trump from its platform didn’t go far enough in weeding out “hate” on the internet. While blaming Trump for the “siege and take-over” of the US Capitol on January 6, the non-profit tech group argued that “white supremacy is about more than any one personality.”

“We need solutions that don’t start after untold damage has been done.Changing these dangerous dynamics requires more than just the temporary silencing or permanent removal of bad actors from social media platforms,” Mozilla wrote.

The group proposed a number of measures to help protect the internet from verboten views. Internet ads should list who paid for them, how much they are paying, and who is being targeted, Mozilla said. There should also be “meaningful transparency” of platform algorithms so that people can examine what kind of content is being promoted.

The group also demanded that “tools to amplify factual voices over disinformation” are added to the default settings of internet platforms, and said that independent research must be carried out to determine how social media is affecting society and what can be done to “improve things.”

The blog post concluded by stating that the answer to Trump and other allegedly bad voices was not to “do away with the internet,” but rather to “build a better one” that can “withstand” such “challenges.”

Mozilla tweeted the statement, claiming that the unrest at the Capitol was the “culmination of a four-year disinformation campaign orchestrated by the President.”

This week we saw the culmination of a four-year disinformation campaign orchestrated by the President. We have to acknowledge how the internet was misused to get here.

And we have to change it.https://t.co/gIVZHQPYT4

— Mozilla (@mozilla) January 8, 2021

The statement was not particularly well received on social media, however. Many Twitter users said they would no longer use Firefox, as a protest against Mozilla’s unvarnished political posturing.

your bio is literally "We work to ensure the internet remains a public resource that is open and accessible to all."

— Seb Parker (@Seb_Parker) January 9, 2021

I've used your browser for 15 years. No more.

I'm out.

— Piping Hot Centrist Takes (@CentristLogic) January 9, 2021

Others argued that the statement was a clear example of how “Big Tech” is able to control “the narrative.”

“You quieted voices you didn’t like until violence occurred. Now you’re using the violence as justification to completely purge those voices,”noted one reply.