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Busted! the Truth About the 50 Most Common Internet Myths

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Busted! the Truth About the 50 Most Common Internet Myths BUSTED! THE TRUTH ABOUT THE with 50 MOST summaries in German, Arabic, COMMON Chinese, French, Russian and INTERNET Spanish MYTHS edited by Matthias C. Kettemann and Stephan Dreyer Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut internetmythen.de • internetmyths.eu Internet Governance Forum Berlin 25–29 November 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS 8 | Prefaces 12 | Introduction by the Editors Chapter I: Rights and Rules 18 | Myth #1: What people do on the Internet cannot be regulated. Nikolas Guggenberger 22 | Myth #2: International law does not apply on the Internet. Matthias C. Kettemann 26 | Myth #3: Code is law. Riikka Koulu 30 | Myth #4: Protocols do not have politics. Corinne Cath-Speth 34 | Myth #5: Cybercriminals go free. Amadeus Peters 38 | Myth #6: You can say what you want online. Emily Laidlaw 42 | Myth #7: Internet platforms are not liable for user-generated content. Amélie Pia Heldt 46 | Myth #8: The Internet has always run on multistakeholder approaches. Roxana Radu 50 | Myth #9: On the Internet, everything is free. Kurt M. Saunders 3 Chapter II: Security and Safety 102 | Myth #21: All Internet users experience the same Internet. David Schulze 56 | Myth #10: Cyberwar is coming. Matthias Schulze 106 | Myth #22: We all live in filter bubbles. Sebastian Randerath 60 | Myth #11: Arms control in cyberspace is not possible. Thomas Reinhold 110 | Myth #23: People get their news only via social media. Sascha Hölig 64 | Myth #12: The best cyber defense is a good cyber offense. Sven Herpig 114 | Myth #24: Likes and shares reliably indicate popularity. Ulrike Klinger 68 | Myth #13: Drastic improvements in cybersecurity are urgently needed. Andrew Odlyzko 118 | Myth #25: Fake news is a real problem. Tommaso Venturini 72 | Myth #14: Only criminals want anonymity online. Thorsten Thiel 122 | Myth #26: We are all journalists and news creators now. Michael S. Daubs 76 | Myth #15: The Internet was invented by the Pentagon and designed to survive a nuclear attack. 126 | Myth #27: Millennials are all Internet-savvy “digital natives”. Ian Peter Claudia Lampert 80 | Myth #16: End-to-end encrypted messaging means that pure privacy 130 | Myth #28: The Internet promotes democracy, like during is protected. the “Arab Spring”. Ilja Sperling Laeed Zaghlami 84 | Myth #17: The dark web is a hidden place of evil. 134 | Myth #29: The Internet destroys the integrity of elections. Suzette Leal Franziska Oehmer and Stefano Pedrazzi 138 | Myth #30: Digital rights campaigns are run by bots, not real activists. Chapter III: Inclusion and Integration Alek Tarkowski 90 | Myth #18: The Internet is an emancipatory tool to end all discrimination. 142 | Myth #31: The Internet enables organizing without organization. Katharina Mosene Sebastian Berg 94 | Myth #19: Search engines provide objective results. 146 | Myth #32: Digital work is immaterial. Astrid Mager Fabian Ferrari and Mark Graham 98 | Myth #20: Social media is an accurate mirror of society. Jozef Michal Mintal 4 5 Chapter IV: Infrastructure and Innovation 202 | Myth #45: Privacy is dead. Paula Helm with Tobias Dienlin, Johannes Eichenhofer and 152 | Myth #33: Cyberspace is totally separate from “the real world”. Katharina Bräunlich Daniel Lambach 206 | Myth #46: The Internet never forgets. 156 | Myth #34: There is no “there” on the Internet. Stephan Dreyer Martin Dittus, Sanna Ojanperä, Mark Graham 210 | Myth #47: Data protection law is about controlling data. 160 | Myth #35: The Internet is an Internet. Maximilian von Grafenstein Sebastian Gießmann 214 | Myth #48: Information wants to be free. 164 | Myth #36: We pay to access the Internet, which is provided by others. Mark Perry Bob Frankston 218 | Myth #49: Peer-to-peer technology is about sharing files illegally. 168 | Myth #37: The Internet is in the clouds. Francesca Musiani Daniel Voelsen 222 | Myth #50: Blockchains will solve all our problems. 172 | Myth #38: The Domain Name System guarantees a global Internet. Martin Florian Robin Tim Weis 176 | Myth #39: Net Neutrality is secured across the Internet. 226 | Postscript by Wolfgang Kleinwächter Bernadette Califano, Mariano Zukerfeld 230 | List of Abbreviations 180 | Myth #40: The Internet democratizes innovation. Alina Wernick 232 | Contributors 184 | Myth #41: Network effects cannot be overcome. 240 | Acknowledgements Paul Belleflamme Chapter V: Data and Disruption At the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut, the 190 | Myth #42: Algorithms are always neutral. authors would like to express their thanks to Wolfgang Schulz, Uwe Hasebrink, Matthias Spielkamp Kristina Hein, Jana Lemke, Katharina Mosene, Anna Sophie Tiedeke, Glacier Kwong, Jan Reschke, Johannes Schmees, Johanna Friederike Stelling, 194 | Myth #43: AI will fix it. Johanna Sebauer and Ilse Kettemann. Christian Katzenbach 198 | Myth #44: AI is in the hands of companies. Philippe Lorenz and Kate Saslow 6 7 PREFACE BY VINT G. CERF This is a wide-ranging compilation of opinions a universe of functionality unreachable in the static about the Internet and various truths and myths print form. Content can be searched, translated, about its operation, use and impact. While I organized, repurposed, and adapted in ways limited don’t agree with all of the characterizations only by our ability to imagine and write software to found in this collection, I think it is important implement new capabilities. to examine assertions made about the Internet and its applications both to clarify The profusion of information found in the Net puts a misunderstandings and to understand how some burden on users to think critically about the quality, of these misrepresentations come about. Some accuracy and veracity they find. This takes work and, originate in a kind of zealous hubris about the in some sense, is the price we pay for the information independence of cyberspace, which, on closer freedom found in the online world. Those freedoms Vinton G. Cerf, inspection, is revealed to be more bound to are at risk, however, precisely because the borderless widely considered the physical and political world than one might Internet is more embedded in the political landscape one of “the fathers think. Others strike me as excuses for adopting than its enthusiastic promoters sometimes wish. of the Internet”, positions that are inimical to the beneficial uses Dispelling myths has the benefit of placing a reality is VP and Chief of the present day Internet. What is important lens on this remarkable environment and the resulting Internet Evangelist is for readers to approach these analyses in the clarity can help us to steer a course towards an at Google. He helped spirit of ascertaining useful truths about the Internet whose benefits can consistently outpace its found ICANN and complex artifact that the Internet has become. deficits. was Chairman of its The implementation and use of the Internet varies Board from 2000 to significantly from one jurisdiction to another, 2007. The recipient depending on physical infrastructure, culture, of many honorary societal norms and available technology. The degrees he has been “myths” need to be examined and evaluated in awarded, inter alia, context to be understood and properly evaluated. the National Medal of Technology, the My own biases are sure to be evident owing to Turing Award and my long-time involvement in many aspects of the the Presidential Internet’s creation and evolution, but I continue to Medal of Freedom. believe that, as a platform, it has and will continue to be an extraordinary source of information, innovation and collaboration. The World Wide Web that rides atop the Internet infrastructure has promoted a cornucopia of applications and information infusion comparable to the invention of the printing press. But the unique flexibility of the underlying computing infrastructure provides 8 9 PREFACE BY WOLFGANG SCHULZ In this complex digital world, we – citizens, Everyone who works with these metaphors, images politicians and business leaders – need images and narratives has a great responsibility here. and narratives that help us understand the world This is also and especially true for academia. It we live in. In most cases it is quite enough for us is not enough to carry out individual studies that that these are plausible. We often cannot check refute the thesis of echo chambers and offer more whether they are true, and so the conclusiveness sophisticated concepts. These concepts must also be of a nice analogy or the fascination with a concept conveyable in such a way that they can be connected that brings complex developments down to earth to social discourse. Otherwise, the established is enough for us. myth will remain, even if some scholars know that it is empirically wrong. The authors and editors of The echo chamber, one of the myths described in this book deserve our sincere thanks – not only for Wolfgang Schulz this book, can serve as an example. It has almost drawing attention to this challenge, but also for is Director, Leibniz become a catchphrase to say that “we all live in starting to solve it right away. Institute for Media echo chambers” at the opening of conferences. Research | Hans- While this sounds plausible, it has only one small Bredow-Institut flaw – it‘s not true, at least not in this broad (HBI), Hamburg; sense. It has been demonstrated that – at least Chair of Media in Germany where the “echo chamber” narrative Law and Public is very popular – real echo chambers only exist Law including for smaller extremist groups, not for society at their Theoretical large. Most people still want to be part of an Foundations, overall “societal discourse” and use a broad media University of repertoire to gather information. Hamburg, holder of the UNESCO For the Internet, the services and the social Chair for Freedom practices that the Internet makes possible, of Communication this dependence on conclusive descriptions, and Information, metaphors and explanations is particularly strong. University of The Internet is not tangible, communications Hamburg; Director, over networks are ultimately based on protocol Humboldt Institute standards.
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