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Tim Berners-Lee: 'Unethical' online political advertising one of the biggest threats to internet

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By Jennifer Faull, Deputy Editor

March 12, 2017 | 4 min read

Internet pioneer Sir Tim Berners-Lee has questioned how democratic political advertising online really is, saying the sophisticated techniques that are used could be “unethical” in the way they direct information at voters.

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Sir Tim Berners-Lee on the Internet's three biggest threats

“Political advertising online has rapidly become a sophisticated industry. The fact that most people get their information from just a few platforms and the increasing sophistication of algorithms drawing upon rich pools of personal data, means that political campaigns are now building individual adverts targeted directly at users,” he said in an open letter today (12 March), marking the 28th anniversary of the world-wide web.

“One source suggests that in the 2016 US election, as many as 50,000 variations of adverts were being served every single day on Facebook, a near-impossible situation to monitor. And there are suggestions that some political adverts – in the US and around the world – are being used in unethical ways – to point voters to fake news sites, for instance, or to keep others away from the polls. Targeted advertising allows a campaign to say completely different, possibly conflicting things to different groups. Is that democratic?”

He later added that “we urgently need to close the ‘internet blind spot’ in the regulation of political campaigning.”

This was one of three internet “trends” Berners-Lee said he was increasingly worried about. He also called out the loss of control over web users’ personal data and the ease at which misinformation can now spread.

He said current model of free content in exchange for personal data has led to people handing it over without giving enough thought to the long term implications.

“Governments are also increasingly watching our every move online, and passing extreme laws that trample on our rights to privacy. In repressive regimes, it’s easy to see the harm that can be caused – bloggers can be arrested or killed, and political opponents can be monitored,” he said.

“But even in countries where we believe governments have citizens’ best interests at heart, watching everyone, all the time is simply going too far. It creates a chilling effect on free speech and stops the web from being used as a space to explore important topics, like sensitive health issues, sexuality or religion.”

And on ‘fake news’ Berners-Lee lamented the algorithms used by the likes of Google and Facebook which only show people the content they think people will click on, “meaning that misinformation, or ‘fake news’, which is surprising, shocking, or designed to appeal to our biases can spread like wildfire.”

“And through the use of data science and armies of bots, those with bad intentions can game the system to spread misinformation for financial or political gain,” he added.

The internet-founder said his team at the Web Foundation is working on many of these issues as part of its new five year strategy.

Among its priorities is striking a balance with web companies “that puts a fair level of data control back in the hands of people” and pointed to the development of new technology like personal “data pods” as well as exploring alternative revenue models like subscriptions and micropayments.

He also encouraged people to “fight against government over-reach in surveillance laws, including through the courts if necessary.”

“We must push back against misinformation by encouraging gatekeepers such as Google and Facebook to continue their efforts to combat the problem, while avoiding the creation of any central bodies to decide what is “true” or not. We need more algorithmic transparency to understand how important decisions that affect our lives are being made, and perhaps a set of common principles to be followed.”

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