#internet

#internet

The internet has turned fringe belief into mainstream politics and policy from authoritarianism to vaccines. With democracy itself threatened, is it time to go back to a previous world of landlines, letters and face-to-face-contact, audiotapes and Ansaphones? What would we miss about the online world that is worth the risk to liberal culture and basic freedoms? Should we turn the internet off?

It's almost impossible to consider what it was before it established a stranglehold on us, but there was a time when the internet seemed destined to be a beacon for technology's positive potential. Before we truly understood the dangers posed online, there was the optimistic belief that it would connect humanity for the better, democratize knowledge and information, and confront us with perspectives that we might otherwise have never encountered.

As the internet has become more integrated in our daily lives, few would describe it as a place of love, compassion, and cooperation.

A working internet connection abroad isn't the luxury it once was; reliable data can make the difference between a stressful arrival and a smooth start to your trip.