by exploited » Mon Mar 19, 2018 6:03 pm
In my personal opinion, the government should not restrict the abilities of private internet companies to sell your personal information, or for interest groups (foreign or otherwise) to sell you bullshit. I believe that we ought to vigorously maintain internet freedom, to an extent that makes national governments uncomfortable, and may negatively impact retards.
This is what should happen:
1. Make media literacy a national, domestic priority. Social media and other programs ought to be covered by schools very, very early. Children need to know how to critically analyze media, and be able to spot inconsistencies in presentation, or citations, or just general logic. They need to develop an immunity system for bullshit. While we are at it, we can discuss stuff like sexting and online harassment and the possible consequences of being irresponsible online (potentially life-ending).
2. Develop a voluntary internet identity program. This would allow the government to confirm to internet companies that a person is actually real, without requiring that person to submit their personal information to the internet company directly. Provide tax breaks for those companies that implement this feature and display verified accounts, such as what is done with major political figures. Require two-factor authentication and other decent security protocols... hell, maybe use the blockchain to make it so you can pass an "identity coin" through the government and into the company, anonymously and openly?
3. Pass a law requiring all internet companies to provide terms of service in plain, common language, in a format under 250 words - and to make good faith attempts to ensure people read it. Pass a law requiring all internet companies to publish a list of advertisers and companies whom they pass data onto.
The real problem is stupidity and ignorance, not the internet, and not even Facebook (as sinister as they are). The real problem is that we've unleashed a really powerful technology and failed to actually teach people about it for several decades.