Who controls the Internet?

Decentralization means the Internet is controlled by many. It’s millions of devices linked together in an open network. No one actor can own it, control it, or switch it off for everyone.

The Internet and the World Wide Web remain the biggest decentralized communication system humanity has ever seen. This was very much a part of the design: the inventors of the Web wished for all people to be able to create and access information.

But the benefits of a decentralized Internet are eroding. When we concentrate our online activity on just a few social networks and messaging apps – as billions of us do – it narrows our experience of the Web to one where we are pointed only at content that appeals to our likes in search results and social media streams. Here, we are consumers rather than creators.

The Internet remains decentralized, but the things we do on it every day are controlled by just a handful of global technology giants. These companies are starting to look more and more like monopolies of the past. Given the importance of the Internet in our lives, this is not healthy.

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Healthy

The Web is thriving beyond the “walled gardens” of social media. Over 1 billion websites exist as a result of the decentralized domain name system (DNS) that catalogues all Web addresses. Around 27% of these websites are powered by WordPress, an open source content management system that is free and easy to use, even without coding skills.

A core principle of the Internet is that all content online should be treated the same. This is known as “net neutrality”. For profit motives, many telcos would prefer to charge different prices and offer different speeds for different types of content, which prevents users from freely choosing their online experience. So it’s healthy for the Internet that laws to protect net neutrality have surfaced in many countries, including India, the US and EU.

At the governance level, it’s worth noting that the US government gave up control of the Internet’s Domain Name System (DNS) in 2016. They officially handed this oversight role to the non-profit, ICANN, which convenes stakeholders from private, public and non-profit sectors around the world. The handover was mostly a formality, but it represents a global commitment to a decentralized Web.

Technologically, a new generation of software developers are dreaming up applications that build and reward decentralization. An example is peer-to-peer computer networks that employ “blockchains” –– the stuff that powers the cryptocurrency Bitcoin – for transactions of money, goods and services. And maybe someday, an Internet that doesn’t require Web servers.

Unhealthy

A small handful of companies – including Facebook, Google, Apple, Tencent, AliBaba and Amazon – dominate the global Internet sector. While these companies provide hugely valuable  services to billions of people, they are also consolidating control over human communication and wealth at a level never before seen in history.

Think of smartphones, where just two companies, Google (Android) and Apple (iOS), dominate the market. Everything from the phone’s operating system, to what applications can be purchased in their app stores, are ultimately controlled by these two companies. And speaking of apps – the global app economy is centered in just a few high-income countries (95% of the value is from just 10 countries) with emerging economies accounting for only 1% of app value.

Internet acquisitions by the tech giants feed consolidation. Facebook for instance, controls most of the messaging market in almost every country except China since acquiring WhatsApp and Instagram in addition to their own Facebook Messenger.

In China, WeChat is the dominant player. It is used for messaging by more than 90% of mobile Internet users in major cities. WeChat is also used for dating, banking, ordering taxis, shopping and more. It is a daunting degree of centralization, where the app takes the place of mostly anything you would do on the decentralized Web. This kind of seamless experience is also desired by other app developers. It’s not healthy for the Internet. It destroys competition, and gives one company intimate knowledge of the movements and likes of all its users.

Not concerned? Even where online freedom appears to exist [nod to Edward Snowden] many tech companies are compelled to respond to government requests for private information.

Prognosis

The decentralized Web is thriving by some measures, but we are heading towards a future of vertically integrated silos controlled by a few large players.

For a healthier Internet, we need to find ways to reinforce decentralization. We need healthy competition for entrepreneurs to thrive and for users to have meaningful choices. But competition policies and legal structures of yesterday are ill equipped to handle all of the dynamics of today. Some of the more effective solutions may be technical.

Today, we don’t expect one kind of video chat software to interoperate with another. This would only be possible if all the software in this category adhered to the same open standards. There could be rules or best practices to govern standards that would support more diverse markets. New innovators would be able to write software that works with what everyone already has.

Deciding that users should be able to move their personal data freely from one online platform to another is another example of something that would give everyone more agency and choice.

Decentralization is key to ensuring that the Internet remains a public resource that is healthy and available to all of us – and that it is not controlled by a tiny handful of governments and companies. If we can do this, there is good likelihood that the Internet remains a force for human freedom and creativity. If not, the future will likely be more dystopian.

Data visuals

Net neutrality

Equal access to online content

“Net neutrality” laws are on the rise worldwide.

Net neutrality is the principle that every website is shown on equal terms to others. When Internet providers can restrict or favor access to certain sites or apps (for profit) it can mean less choice for users and tough times for small websites. Laws to protect the open Web are needed.

Search engines

More searches happen on Google than on all other search engines combined.

Google’s lead is largest on mobile phones, with a market share of 93.76%. The landscape is more diverse on desktops, but Google is basically how most people explore the Web. It gives the company an unmatched advantage in sales of online ads that present things to people based on personal interests.

Desktop search engine market share

Mobile/tablet search engine market share

Social networks

Concentration of ownership

Facebook has the most active users of any social network: 1.7 billion worldwide.

Networks like Facebook, WhatsApp and WeChat serve important social functions that people value highly. But they are largely closed gardens, controlled by a handful of companies that have outsize influence over what people see and do online.

Browsers

Market share of browsers

Google Chrome dominates the browser market.

On desktop computers 62% use Chrome, followed by 15% using Firefox. On mobiles, Google Chrome and Apple’s Safari are leading. The browser is the central gateway to the Web, so it matters that there is competition and that there are options built around values like choice and transparency.

Desktop browser market share

Mobile/tablet browser market share

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W . A. Roberts
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W . A. Roberts

Great article, thanks for sharing the information

Uffa
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Uffa

Great article. However there was a paragraph which described the handover of control of the Internet’s DNS by the US government to ICANN as a mostly formality. Could this be explained more in details?

neoe
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neoe

Nice. But Moz, please make your Firefox easy to compiled. I tried years but failed on preparing the build enviroment.

Jon Rogers
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Jon Rogers

This is fascinating.

I wonder if for the next issue of the report whether you would be able to find data on voice ‘browsing’. I wonder if you will even be able to find out how many people have said “Alexa, find me…”. Are we entering a phase where not only will the internet be entirely closed, but our ability to know that is being closed has been taken away….

Marcia Barlow
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Marcia Barlow

Something happened about 4 days ago whereby I can no longer access the comment section on all Youtube videos. WHY? Sharing opinions and comments about presentations gives the creator valuable information, and the viewer an opportunity to state an opinion. It doesn’t matter if one doesn’t like the opinion of another. Allowing the opportunity to express that opinion is far more important than being only a passive viewer. Data must be allowed to be examined!

Sally G
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Sally G

That is probably about the new provisions holding sites responsible for the content of the comments—easier to just hav eno comments than to moderate. I have been following only peripherally, so not sure of details; maybe someone else can say more?

carlos
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carlos

to keep in touch with family and friends must be provided for free by the cities’ at a wide band and those bussiness internet providers because they charge for commercial.

Kano
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Kano

Thankyou #Mozilla.

Kesavan Muthuvel
Guest

Thankyou #Mozilla. Openness really matters.

Astik cherenga
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Astik cherenga

Thanks for the knowledge

Ashok
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Ashok

This is amazing data and analysis. Thanks

Giuseppe
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Giuseppe

thanks mozzi!
I have been a proud user of Mozilla for a long time, but i have to tell you that i had to switch to chrome on my macbook, cause mozilla is underperforming. Please fix it, want to come back on board 🙂

Sally G
Guest
Sally G

Agreed, I went to Safari. No more customized Firefox with its extensions. Sad. (I will not intentionally use a Google product unless there is no choice for engaging with a group in which I am interested, and even then I will complain about it first.)

Darrell
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Darrell

Mozilla, thanks for all the information. It is a real eye opener and very scary to know that only a few have control of the masses.

Matias Berra
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Thank you for the info Mozilla! Definitely something everyone on the net should read! Sharing it as we speak. Keep up the good work guys! We thank you 🙂

Windows Tech\'s And Tips
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Windows Tech\'s And Tips

Keep up the great work Mozilla!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joel Mutungi
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Joel Mutungi

Great information that can impact how next we interact and use the web

erik
Guest

The real issue is the centralization of things like BGP routing and DNS. There are only 3 companies that make the devices that route 90% of the worlds traffic. At the end of the day, if one of these companies is compromised, then every internet protocol: SSL, etc. is also compromised.

zcyzcy88
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zcyzcy88

Chrome is Google’s browser,
Firefox is my browser.

sfield9
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sfield9

i,personnally…am glad we have them all..yes we can pick and choose….i am glad the netizens have a choice to begin with….without all of them..those countless electrons …would still be driving the morse code (mobile) and the ring a ling,lings(telephones)…both served well in the day…the only thing that has changed…is the amount of arbitragable yap yap yap….gab gab gab…and yada yada yada..that we, as human agent,will always continue to do…and i ,for one, am glad we have ,what we got today…looking for tmw..into an unknown of how we all communicate…with each other

Matt
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Matt

There are good reasons why people are turning to these technologies (specifically, Google) over others (including yours). They’ve done a better job at virtually everything, from web standards to search engines. From a competition standpoint, they’re just doing far better. As a web developer, we recommend Google because it’s the browser that we can almost guarantee to work as we intend it. Safari and IE are just atrocious and require careful coddling to make them get 80% working (although they are getting better, fortunately). I would plant the fault for this landscape firmly in the hands of the technology creators… Read more »

Navg
Guest
Navg

Not true.Firstly,Chrome is such pain in the ass for those who have little than average knowledge in terms of WWW and computers generally.It is such idiot-friendly web browser,best suited for 4 year old kid.Problem is when you are not kid or idiot.Without tons of add-ons,its functionality is zero.And when finally install them ,and customize browser the way you want, you will feel sick in stomach-every time.One example: right click menu on selected text does not have delete option,only cut…give me a break. And there is tons of stuff in Chrome like this,it is sickening . Yes it is better for… Read more »

Mentis
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Mentis

Very well said. Microsoft embed IE in Windows as Google promotes Chrome with androids and so on. This means that the average user will use them not from choice but cause big corporations need them to. Google use to be a good and LITE search engine years ago, now it’s just a huge corporation like Microsoft and they only mind their profits. Hope some day the average user will understand how expensive the internet has become out of the “free” products that those corporations are giving us. DuckDuckGo.com and Firefox for me!

Sally G
Guest
Sally G

That is sadly, a reason to change, but Safari works for me and is not part of the Google data-mining machine (though who knows what Apple is scooping up? at least they refused to put in a backdoor for the FBI [though somehow the FBI broke in anyway, imagine that!])

Puneet Saraswat
Guest
Puneet Saraswat

A very well written article with brilliant stats to support the “idea”, but what’s wrong in Google if it is a “giant” who has “adjusted” me for it’s benefit and I did not even see it coming. Basically I never deserved anything better else I would have synced with other users and by now an alternative of Google would have had existed.
fyi I use Firefox as my browser 😛

Will
Guest
Will

Interesting and well written article but some of this data is incorrect. The map (Equal access to online content) shows the European region as ‘Considering protections’, however the origional map at https://www.thisisnetneutrality.org/ states that Europe is providing protections and goes on to say “In October 2015, the European Union enshrined binding Net Neutrality protections in 28 countries with its Telecoms Single Market regulation”.

alvis
Guest

google doesn’t give me the sites I want . It gives me the sites it wants me to have. Firefox does a much better job. It even expounds and show me more of what i’m looking for, as what I think a computer should.

Alex Hall
Guest

What? Firefox is not a search engine; it doesn’t “give” you any web sites per se (assuming the mechanic is that you are searching for any sites and even using a search engine). Lately, it defaults to using Yahoo as a search engine. ?

Caleb
Guest
Caleb

Now, its default search engine is google, for revenue purposes. The good thing about this is that most of the Firefox users are smart, well-informed people who give a shit about their online lives, and know how to use the browser to change the search engine.

Carl
Guest
Carl

I used to use Yahoo as my search engine but stopped because they had so much false news and advertising that was for scams. I wonder if it would be possible to persuade they to be more discriminating in what they put on their site

Callum
Guest
Callum

I use duckduckgo as my search engine, no targeted ads just what i asked for.

Caleb
Guest
Caleb

It’s pretty decent, but I use Bing because it is the second fastest/smartest search engine, and doesn’t currently hold a monopoly over the search market like google. Plus, I use it to get Bing rewards points which can be exchanged for gift cards and other things like charities and such. Bing + Firefox = Inner Peace.

Caleb
Guest
Caleb

I agree. The fake news media is out of control. You could just use foxnews.com for news.
Besides, fox IS the ONLY major news organization in support of Trump. All the others are against him. Can’t we just get news delivered to us truthfully? Just give us the facts not your own bias.
*This may go a little bit against the 1st amendment to the constitution of the united states, but the way powers have been abused is outrageous.*