Six months ago, when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, it accelerated the shift out of offices and schools and onto the Internet. Back then, we asked if the Internet was resilient enough to withstand Coronavirus. After several months of observations, we confirmed that it is, thanks to the strength, resilience and success The post What Does Normal Look Like Now? COVID’s Impact on the Internet appeared first on Internet Society.

Turning plastic into access: Students in a Jakarta, Indonesia, neighborhood are collecting discarded plastic and trading it for access at a WiFi station that sells the plastic waste, the World Economic Forum website says. The owner of the WiFi station uses the profits from selling the plastic to purchase access for small groups of students The post The Week in Internet News: Trading Trash for WiFi appeared first on Internet Society.

Earlier this year, as part of the European Digital Strategy, the European Commission announced a Digital Services Act package to develop new and revised rules to harmonize and deepen the Single Market for digital services. As a part of that initiative, it also initiated a public consultation to scope the specific issues that may require regulatory intervention. The post The Digital Services Act and Why the Architecture of the Internet Must Be Preserved appeared first on Internet Society.

Each year during Chapter Workshops, representatives from across the Internet Society come together to advance their shared vision of an open and trusted Internet for everyone. They gather elbow-to-elbow on five different continents, sharing experiences and exchanging local, regional, and global perspectives. These annual workshops are a meeting ground for Internet Society Chapters, project leads, The post Making Connections to Make a Difference at the 2020 Chapter Workshops appeared first on Internet Society.

From the environment to the economy, the Internet is reshaping and disrupting several sectors of our society. What might future patterns of disruption look like? How will these changes affect all of us, particularly those on the margins of society? What new solutions can we generate today, to address the challenges of tomorrow? At the The post What Will the Internet Look Like in 2030? New Grants Program for Researchers Studying the Future of the Internet appeared first on Internet Society.

Library access: The Kyrgyzstan Chapter of the Internet Society has started work on version 2.0 of its ilimBox project, an online educational platform for teachers and students. The ilimBox device, now powered by the Raspberry Pi 4, will include new educational videos, audio, and text resources. IlimBox is a digital library for schools and public The post Member News: Kyrgyzstan Chapter Focuses on Online Resources for Schools appeared first on Internet Society.

Hackers vs. the election: Microsoft has warned that hackers from Russia, China, and Iran are targeting U.S. election systems, The Hill reports. The tech giant is seeing increasing efforts to hack into the Donald Trump and Joe Biden presidential campaigns. A Russian hacking group called Strontium has targeted more than 200 organizations, political campaigns, and parties over The post The Week in Internet News: Microsoft Warns of Cyberattacks on U.S. Election appeared first on Internet Society.

The country can become a continental digital leader with strengthened Internet Exchange Points (IXPs). In January this year, Internet users in Kenya reached 22.86 million, a 16% jump from 2019. A leap that was made with no major impact on network quality and speed, and no increase in connectivity costs. Between 2012 and now, the The post How Peering and Infrastructure Development Improved Connectivity in Kenya, Speeding Economic Growth appeared first on Internet Society.

The Internet has been revolutionary for human progress. Bit by bit, byte by byte, it has come to underpin modern life. For those of us online today it is hard to imagine (or remember) a world where the Internet was not the fabric of our social lives, education, entertainment, innovation, and culture. But what makes The post How Do We Ensure the Internet Grows and Improves? Start with the Internet Impact Assessment Toolkit appeared first on Internet Society.

Eyes on you: A U.S. appeals court has ruled that a National Security Agency program that collected call data from millions of U.S. residents was illegal, The Hill reports. The call metadata collection program, exposed by Edward Snowden, was suspended in 2015. The court ruled that the bulk collection of phone records violated laws requiring The post This Week in Internet News: India Bans 118 Apps From Chinese Companies appeared first on Internet Society.

What makes a great leader? Earlier this year, 473 Chapter Members participated in the 2020 Chapters Training Program. The Internet Society kicked off the program with a lot of hope and excitement. This was an opportunity to harness the power of us – our global community – to incubate innovative ideas and tomorrow’s Internet leaders. The The post Chapter Leaders Worldwide Make the Case for Strong Encryption appeared first on Internet Society.

This opinion piece was originally published in Dark Reading. School systems don’t seem like attractive targets, but they house lots of sensitive data, such as contact information, grades, health records, and more. Schools are starting to reopen around the country – some physically, some virtually, and some a hybrid of the two. As a result, the The post Don’t Forget Cybersecurity on Your Back-to-School List appeared first on Internet Society.

We are excited to announce the new Internet Society Comoros Chapter! ISOC Comoros officially launched in July in front of an in-person and online audience at the Retaj Hotel. Journalists joined several distinguished guests, including: Dawit Bekele, Internet Society’s Regional Vice-President for Africa Mohamed Said Abdallah Mchangama, President of the Federation of Comorian Consumers (FCC) The post The Internet Society Welcomes the Comoros Chapter appeared first on Internet Society.

This opinion piece was originally published in Morning Consult. Low-income Americans; Black, Hispanic and Native Americans; the elderly; Americans with a high school education or less; and rural Americans are much more likely to be on the wrong side of the digital divide. Ours remains a nation where too many people, often our most vulnerable citizens, are unconnected or The post The Digital Divide May Be News, But It’s Not New appeared first on Internet Society.

Shopping for video: As U.S. President Donald Trump pushes for a ban of TikTok unless it’s sold by its Chinese owner, Walmart has joined Microsoft in a bid for the short-video sharing app, CNBC reports. TikTok is reportedly nearing an agreement to sell its U.S., Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand operations for $20 billion to The post The Week in Internet News: U.S. Moves Closer to Banning Chinese Apps appeared first on Internet Society.

The Internet Society, in partnership with South Asia Network Operators Group (SANOG) recently concluded a five-week, hands-on training course for entry level network engineers and system administrators from South Asia. The online course Introduction to Network Operations, which took place from June 15 to July 19, prepared professionals to take advantage of the new opportunities The post In South Asia an Online Training Course Equips Engineers for the Future appeared first on Internet Society.

Departing Trustee Glenn McKnight looks back at his three years of service as a member of the Internet Society Board of Trustees. During the past three years we have seen a tremendous amount of productive work by a functional and focused Internet Society Board of Trustees. This included not only the normal board and committee The post Reflecting on Three Years of Board Service and a Commitment to Quality Improvement appeared first on Internet Society.

The Domain Name System (DNS) is an important component of the Internet, but it was not designed with security in mind. In the last 20 years or so, much attention has been directed at improving its inherently insecure aspects. This includes the deployment of DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) that enables cryptographic validation of DNS records, The post The State of Routing Security at DNS Registries appeared first on Internet Society.

Ban hammer: Facebook has banned banned about 900 pages and groups and 1,500 ads tied to the conspiracy theory QAnon, NBC News reports. QAnon followers believe an anonymous, supposed government insider has warned them about a massive group of satanic cannibals and pedophiles inside the U.S. government. QAnon, militia movements, and violent movements tied to The post The Week in Internet News: Facebook Bans Conspiracy Accounts appeared first on Internet Society.

Thanks to our Chapters in Latin America, we now have a clearer map of the intermediary liability regulatory landscape across the region. Intermediary liability answers the question, “Should Internet intermediaries (ISPs, web hosting and cloud services, social media platforms, etc.)  be liable for content posted or for actions performed by others, such as, for example, The post Mapping Intermediary Liability in Latin America appeared first on Internet Society.