How do we measure Internet health?

Welcome to Mozilla’s new open source initiative to document and explain what’s happening to the health of the Internet. Combining research from multiple sources, we collect data on five key topics and offer a brief overview of each.

For offline reading, download the full report (pdf).

The Internet is an ecosystem. A living entity that billions of people depend on for knowledge, livelihood, self-expression, love…. The health of this system relies on – and influences – everyone it touches. Signs of poor health in any part impacts the whole. We’re all connected.

How healthy is our Internet? How might we understand and diagnose it? We believe this is a timely and necessary conversation, and we hope you’ll join in.

Our individual actions shape the health of the Internet ecosystem. Only by recognizing where the system is healthy can we take positive steps to make it stronger. Only by understanding where it’s at risk can we avoid actions that weaken it.

“Calling all citizens of the Internet”
Executive director of the Mozilla Foundation, Mark Surman, explains why Internet health is so vital.

This prototype – a snapshot of a moment in time in the life of the Internet – identifies five health markers that we believe are worth paying attention to and offers an initial prognosis for each.

What’s next? We invite you as a part of this ecosystem to offer your feedback on our approach. How might the format be improved? Are we asking the right questions? Who is missing from this conversation?

Together, we’ll strengthen this living document into an annual report on Internet health. In the months ahead, we’ll facilitate a gathering of community to collaborate on ideas, research, and ways to measure. This will influence version 1.0 of the report, to be released in 2018. We hope that it will inspire worldwide action toward an Internet that grows healthier as it expands.

Solana Larsen is the editor of this report. You can email her directly with your thoughts and suggestions.


About Mozilla

Mozilla’s mission is to ensure the Internet is a global public resource, open and accessible to all. We’re a global community of technologists, thinkers and builders working together to keep the Internet alive and accessible, so people worldwide can be informed contributors and creators of the Web. These are our core issues.

Credits

This report (v0.1) was created with input from across Mozilla and feedback from friends. It was translated by Global Voices and Mozilla’s L10n translators. Nice & Serious designed and built the website. Research data was compiled by A Bit of a Data Agency.

See full credits here.

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Akash
Guest

Thanks brother but can this will also applied to the Crome as Mozilla which will you have described in this article.

Audrey
Guest
Audrey

Thank you, Mozilla, for taking on global internet issues. The task is HUGE! And, those trying to crush net neutrality are powerful and wealthy. How can we “little people” help?

kenneth
Guest
kenneth

I think the internet is sick. But with programs like mozilla it is getting better everyday

Maarten
Guest
Maarten

Mozilla: “Our individual actions shape the health of the Internet ecosystem. Only by recognizing where the system is healthy can we take positive steps to make it stronger. Only by understanding where it’s at risk can we avoid actions that weaken it.” I disagree with this. The ‘health’ of the Internet is related to its technical characteristics only. Those characteristics follow from its design as an information system and the later developments. Developments were driven by commercial demands and the inevitable requirement of backward compatibility. For example, the cookies were made an official Internet standard for the sake of shopping… Read more »

Matthijs Pontier
Guest

Some tips on how we can deal with technology (like the internet) in such a way that it benefits all people, and not just the people that own/control the technology: https://www.slideshare.net/Matthijs85/how-we-can-use-technology-tu-increase-our-freedom-and-outsmart-governments-and-companies-who-want-the-opposite-lecture-at-psyfi-2017/

María
Guest
María

Sounds too politicised for my liking. I live in a Third World country,
an if the people at Mozilla think policing is what we want, they’re
sadly mistaken. For starters, simplicity would be a nice addition.
The Internet is becoming increasingly cumbersome to use, we just
would like a browser that doesn’t crash, “server not found” is a
twice a DAY occurrence here, you see…..

angela
Guest
angela

SIMPLICITY…We are not all internet nor computer wiz’s and at the age of 53,,, when I do prefer to use it ,,,I want exactly what i asked, not a ad, not a third party, not a almost that redirected me, or the little whirlpool….or not responding..

AFIFA
Guest
AFIFA

ENGLISH IS INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE.IT IS VERY IMPORTANT BUT ALSO VERY DIFFICULT.MOST OF THE TIME I SEARCH SOME WORD IN DICTIONARY FROM INTERNET.I I CANNOT FOUND WORD MEANING.IT’S VERY PAINFUL TO NOT FOUND THE WORD MEANING. SO I WANT TO TELL U THAT PLEASE KEEP LARGE COLLECTION OF WORD & WORD MEANING OK
THANK U.

Mick Gibson
Guest
Mick Gibson

English is the number one written language in the world! Of those of you take thinks Spanish is, you have another thing coming! The biggest language English language (3.5 Billion) is China.

Patrick Muasya
Guest

Thank you for this space. I have a suggestion. This is an important issue you have taken up. Why don’t you initiate serious participation and contribution by launching a competition for ideas on how to improve the health of the internet. The best 50 ideas will receive cash prizes.

TJ McCann
Guest
TJ McCann

How is it suddenly Mozilla’s mission to document and thereby allegedly improve the Internet’s “health”? It’s not. I would be happy if Mozilla were able to provide a stable browser that does not repeatedly crash or lock up again. And as with health care, this Internet Health mission is unquestionably politicized form the start, from its very definition of what constitutes that health, on into what will be undoubtedly political goals involving the Internet. It’s not your job, and the idea that you believe it might be so is cause for me to abandon Mozilla, despite having been a devoted… Read more »

andrew onorio
Guest

Tom, that is exactly my thoughts concerning this initiative. Looks as if the Clinton foundation may have finger prints into this. It should not be a specified mandate of how the health of the internet is, but should just be a resource for all to access.

Phillips
Guest
Phillips

“It should not be a specified mandate of how the health of the internet is, but should just be a resource for all to access.”
I meannnn, that’s kinda what ‘health of the internet’ means. How freely and easily can the average person access the internet and decide what their internet experience will be? If it’s ‘unhealthy’ it means there are things prohibiting it from being “a resource for all to access.” It’s good to track those things.

Linda Shelly
Guest
Linda Shelly

I don’t know what can be done to increase the Internet’s presence in other Non English speaking countries, but that would be a good first start.

Starena Parsons
Guest
Starena Parsons

I am English but live in Spain and speak Spanish.

If I can participate or help please let me know.

Good Luck for the future.

SUHARMANI
Guest
SUHARMANI

Nowadays the Internet is there in terms of positive and negative, positive aspect is like a plane that can deliver anywhere would go off without a hitch, following our will, but the negative side, if in each of minors who have not the time, so that we as parents should always supervise and unfortunately still no hindrance throughout the world, there is no terjakau field because the signal is weak, so that the user can not enter the maximum in the news. according to me on the internet.

Nidia
Guest
Nidia

An urgent and important topic, if I can helping, please tell me.

Delnova
Guest
Delnova

Looking to learn and contribute if possible.

Michael Barden
Guest
Michael Barden

Wish I could email this information as I quit Face-book for the same reason

Uzoma katchy
Guest
Uzoma katchy

Great work. Quite educative.

Joel Mutungi
Guest
Joel Mutungi

Great work!

a g
Guest
a g

Good read. I’d like to get more but I don’t feel like sharing my email. Add a RSS feed please.

Mark Samperi
Guest
Mark Samperi

I would like to say thanks for giving me and all of us the opportunitu to be involved in this. It may not seem so important for some, but I happen to think this could be groundbreaking. I will do some research and endeavour to earn my place amongst possibly some of the greatest thinkers Earth has to offer now

andrew onorio
Guest

No pride there Ill say.

Manny Shevitz
Guest
Manny Shevitz

But, wait, what is this O most intelligent one. It’s almost like they have a plan!

February to March

Gather feedback on prototype and ideas for v1.0
Summarize feedback and other resources in new blog

andrew onorio
Guest

Certainly looks sinister doesn’t it?

Manny Shevitz
Guest
Manny Shevitz

Perhaps that is why they are calling it a “prototype?” Instead of, perhaps, a final or completed study?

Wendy
Guest

The report needs editing to correct or delete the following errors: 1) Opinions stated as facts, diminishing credibility. 2) Mistakes in sentence structure, e.g., “Hatred, racism and bigotry can stomped out online at least as well as offline… 3) There is no language called Chinese. 4) Homophone mistakes, e.g., principle/principal.

andrew onorio
Guest

Wendy looks as if you have just discriminated against 99% of the worldwide users. You are the hater in a since and I guess you would like to quell the world from opinion! I guess your opinion should be blocked huh!

Bob
Guest
Bob

Even the media can’t stop themselves from stating opinions as facts

Roger Stone
Guest
Roger Stone

EVEN the Media??? The newspapers in the UK are dedicated propaganda sheets controlled by secretive millionaire owners who deliberately distort their presentation of news to serve their own interests. ‘Fake news’ is not the problem; the problem is biased presentation used to manipulate public opinion.

KjIngham
Guest
KjIngham

Finally, we have a sensible idea!!

Martha
Guest
Martha

I downloaded the report to read later. I’m excited to see what, how, etc.. this goes, and agree this needs to be done, good luck!!

smat43
Guest
smat43

….monopolies be crushed! …kudos mozilla! …will participate!

kumar
Guest
kumar

thank you for good plan

oceannius
Guest
oceannius

i hope i could participate in this matter with my limited English. Participant from Indonesia here!

PH Braman
Guest
PH Braman

Thank you for a good plan. I would like to help.

Juan Perez-Franco
Guest
Juan Perez-Franco

OK. That’s good. I am totally willing to participate in the discussion. Thank you for the opportunity.

James
Guest
James

This is a hard topic, an interesting one, and one that I agree, probably should have been discussed sooner.
Thank you for bringing it up now.

andrew onorio
Guest

james, what do you think the real reason for this is?

Deloz
Guest
Deloz

good job!