1. Selected Idea
Digital Design
- “...they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness.”
- Declaration of
Independence
Alex, Mike, Gabriel, Erica
2. New York Times
- U.N. Affirms
Internet
Freedom as a
Basic Right
https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/06/so-the-united-
nations-affirms-internet-freedom-as-a-basic-right-now-what/
Digital DesignAlex, Mike, Gabriel, Erica
3. Docs of Freedom- Equal and Inalienable
Rights
“...people have rights
regardless of whether
they are able to
put them into practice”
https://www.docsoffreedom.org/student/readings/equal-and-inalienable-rights
Digital DesignAlex, Mike, Gabriel, Erica
4. Proposal
- Internet users should be compelled to
support an online media campaign that
fights for the right of free expression on
the Internet
Digital DesignAlex, Mike, Gabriel, Erica
6. Selected Idea
Right to change or abolish power
- “That whenever any Form of Government
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right
of the People to alter or to abolish it”
- Declaration of Independence
Digital DesignDigital DesignAlex, Mike, Gabriel, Erica
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document
/
7. YouTube takes verification from users
- YouTube took verification away from many users
but left it for massive channels with lots of
subscribers
- Many people posted videos and talked about how
they weren’t happy with what went on
Digital DesignDigital DesignAlex, Mike, Gabriel, Erica
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/19/style/youtube-
unverified-creators.html
8. Google also has the most used browser by far
- Google Chrome is by far most popular browser
compared to all others
- They control the largest market share of all
internet browsers
http://blairreeves.me/2019/08/20/the-browser-monopoly/
Digital DesignDigital DesignAlex, Mike, Gabriel, Erica
9. Proposal Text
- Internet users need to design a way to express
their feedback for companies on a decision that
hurts their average user.
Digital DesignDigital DesignAlex, Mike, Gabriel, Erica
11. Selected Idea
Overthrowing Oppressive Regimes
- “But when a long train of abuses and
usurpations...evinces a design to reduce them
under absolute Despotism,...”
http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/document/
Digital DesignAlex, Mike, Gabriel, Erica
12. New York Times (NYT)-
A Better Way to Break Up Big Tech
- Apply specific fixes to specific problems
- Split off cloud businesses
- Get rid of “app taxes”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/13/technology/elizabeth-warren-tech-companies.html
Digital DesignAlex, Mike, Gabriel, Erica
14. TED Talk-
The Case For a Decentralized Internet
- Big companies and the government own the
Internet.
- Breaks down big threats to freedom and outlines
plan for decentralized network.
https://www.ted.com/talks/tamas_kocsis_the_case_for_a_decentralized_internet
Digital DesignAlex, Mike, Gabriel, Erica
16. Proposal
A decentralized network run by individuals
rather than large corporations must be
designed to restore Internet privacy and
open access to information.
Digital DesignAlex, Mike, Gabriel, Erica
18. Selected Idea
“All men are created equal”
- Declaration of Independence
Digital DesignAlex, Mike, Gabriel, Erica
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/
19. New York Times (NYT) - Technology’s Man
Problem
- “At tech start-ups, often considered the most
desirable places to work, the number of women
appears to be even lower.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/06/technology/technologys-man-problem.html
Digital DesignAlex, Mike, Gabriel, Erica
20. Digital DesignAlex, Mike, Gabriel, Erica
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/06/technology/technologys-man-problem.html
21. Barriers Prevent Gender Equality in tech
“Gender-based discrimination emanates from
conscious and unconscious biases about women’s
aptitude and ability in technical fields”
- Discrimination in the tech field prevents these
individuals from reaching equal pay.
Digital DesignAlex, Mike, Gabriel, Erica
- Harvard Business School
https://digital.hbs.edu/managing-in-the-digital-economy/barriers-not-the-pipeline-prevent-gender-equality-in-
tech/
22. Digital DesignAlex, Mike, Gabriel, Erica
https://digital.hbs.edu/managing-in-the-digital-economy/barriers-not-the-pipeline-prevent-gender-equality-in-tech/
23. Proposal
Redesign hiring techniques in technology companies
to provide equal opportunities for all potential
employees.
Digital DesignAlex, Mike, Gabriel, Erica
Big companies like Amazon, Facebook and Google are monopolizing the Internet
Solutions and tips
Specific fixes for specific problems would minimize any trickle-down effects that the “one-size-fits-all” model would lead to
Splitting off cloud computing departments in big companies into their own separate businesses would reduce some of the power they have over consumers
Getting rid of the “app tax” would help small businesses save money
Don’t get lured into censorship debates because they often resulting conflating real anti-competitive behavior with imaginary abuses
More Solutions to Problems
Offering their own products on platforms they control
Solution: Companies should either sell their own products or host third-party markets, not both
Acquiring potential competitors prevents small start-up companies from having a fair chance of competing
Solution: appointing regulators to undo mergers and break up conglomerates
Usually consumers have to go through a middleman/gatekeeper to get to a website
The middlemen become too powerful when they have the ability to kick someone off the Internet or redirect traffic
Solution- cut out the middle man, create an entirely people-run Internet
Solution- over-regulation via spreading content filters across the entire Internet
Downsides: filters often block important content and can result in losses of important things that are irrelevant to the filter
Leads to Internet censorship
Hard to enforce
