5 Ideas That Might Actually Save The Internet

Fake news, data breaches and the growing monopolies of big tech firms have led us into a crisis of trust for the Internet. That's been happening for some time now. Lately I keep coming across interesting ideas fueled in no small part by the backlash against tech happening as people lose faith in the promise of technology to save us.

Here is a compilation of some of the most important (and sometimes controversial) ideas about how to save the Internet, along with a recent story about each one:

• Idea #1: Slow the spread of misinformation. The ease with which fake news can spread is a plague on the Internet. Now big social media platforms are finding ways of verifying information and reducing fakes.
• Idea #2: Make large audiences harder to build. It is too easy to build artificially large followings online using bots. In response Twitter is fighting back by limiting the number of users anyone can follow in a single day.
• Idea #3: Put limitations on free speech. Does everyone really deserve the right to post anything they want online? New legislation from Europe is threatening to dramatically curb this right and is stirring a big debate.
• Idea #4: Let people profit from their own data. Writer Jaron Lanier has some powerful ideas about how people should be able to monetize their data, and people are starting to listen.
• Idea #5: Use our digital lives as a memorial. Given the amount we share online, it is fitting that our lives be memorialized on social media after we pass away. Now Facebook has a solution to make that easier.