What Kind of Internet Do We Want?

By Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer

What kind of internet do we want? It’s one of the biggest questions we face today. I believe we don’t want an internet that is out of control, where anything goes. And we don’t want an internet that is too tightly controlled, where people can’t express themselves. To rewrite the rules for the internet, it will take all of us working together – people, governments, the tech industry. I spoke about this today in Munich at the Digital Life Design, a conference about how technology is changing the world.

I talked about wanting an internet where people can speak up without spreading hate. Where communities can come together without interference or abuse. And where everyone can access the benefits of technology and know their privacy is protected.

This is what we’re trying to build at Facebook every day. We know we need to do better at anticipating risks and we need to stop abuse more quickly. But we’ve taken significant steps – including investing heavily in safety and security, protecting against election interference, cracking down on misinformation, making sure people have control over their information, and being more transparent about our policies and decisions than we have ever been before. We will never stop all the bad from happening, but we’re working more closely with governments, outside experts, and other tech companies to tackle bad actors.

Today we announced a new partnership with the German Federal Office for Information Security to help better protect elections in Germany and the EU. This builds on the work we’ve been doing since 2016. For example, last year we removed thousands of Pages, Groups and accounts involved in inauthentic behavior so they can’t mislead others about their identity and intentions.

We’re making these investments because we know we have a deep responsibility to protect the people who use our services and enable the good that people can do with technology. Every day people use our apps to stay in touch with loved ones, build supportive communities, grow businesses, and raise money for causes. This is the kind of world we stand for – and what I believe we can achieve if we all work together.