Oxford Internet Survey: The End of the Beginning

I know you won't mind our multiple posting on the publication of the Oxford Internet Survey. It's a big issue. In the world of an information society think-tank, it's as big as they get.

We welcome the Survey. We are extremely grateful for the work of the Oxford Internet Institute over the past several years. But the Survey seems to ask more questions than it answers. Knowing what is happening on the world wide web is not the same as knowing what to do about it. We don't claim to have all the answers either, but the time has come to look for them.

We now know that the digital divide persists, in Britain let alone the world in general. It is time to act on this. The internet - the most brilliant technological development of modern times - is not being made accessible fast enough to the worst off. The Survey was largely reticent, for one thing, on the class dimension to internet usage.

I think the main issue surrounding internet usage we are going to have to confront is the power of the private sector. We need to abandon the romantic image of the internet as a network of individuals. It is not. It is just as much another means for private firms to make money. There is nothing wrong with that, in principle. But there is a need to assess how the internet is affecting economic activity and outcomes in practice. E-commerce is a particualr concern, especially since the UK government is supporting its development so strongly.

Social networking sites are another concern. There is nothing wrong with individuals using such sites to communicate in new ways - but what about the rights to privacy we are unwittingly giving away, on these sites and through various other services. It is up to democratically elected representatives to discuss such concerns.

The Survey, to reiterate, is very welcome. It is the end of the beginning for the internet - we know now more clearly than ever how it is being used. It is up to us as a society to decide what happens next.

CB