The internet as you know it it is under attack and it's more fragile than you might think.
你所知道的網際網路正在遭受攻擊, 它可能比你所認為的還要脆弱。
(Dial-up sounds)
(撥接聲)在網路更早、 更屬於阿宅、更吵的時代,
In the earlier, nerdier, screechier days of the net the possibilities seemed endless. "Information wants to be free," said the Web 1.0 pioneers. They envisioned a free internet where countless independent nodes would sustain a worldwide system of instant communication, entirely decentralized and therefore immune to central control or sabotage.
可能性似乎無窮盡。 Web 1.0 的先鋒說: 「資訊想要自由。」 他們想像一個自由的網際網路, 有無數的獨立節點 來維持即時通訊的全球系統, 完全是分散式的, 因此可以避免受到中央控制 或被破壞。
Cut to today, and ehh, I think they got it about half right. So much for independent, it now seems like the internet and its infrastructure are owned by the same three American dudes. In a world of mega-platforms, attention-sapping algorithms and mass surveillance, we aren't wondering if information is free, we're wondering if we are.
切回現今,嗯,我認為 他們只說對了一半。 獨立也不過就這樣,現在, 似乎網際網路及其基礎設施 都是這三個美國人所擁有。 這個世界有著超大型平台、 讓人注意力耗盡的演算法, 以及大規模監控, 我們納悶的不是資訊是否自由, 納悶的是我們是否自由。
Now with all the doom and gloom aside, I should say I love the internet. It's where I spend most of my time. The best thing about my pandemic has been watching the rest of you get reduced to my level.
把所有的暗淡無望擺到一邊, 我會說,我愛網際網路。 我大部分時間都在上網。 疫情期間我最愛的就是看著 你們其他人被降級到我的水平。 (笑聲)
(Laughter)
It's accelerated the digital world's invasion of the material one. That meeting that could have been an email is now an email. Malls are being shut by search bars. Fortnite tournaments are filling national stadiums and JPEGs are selling for the price of a da Vinci. Whatever happens next, we're all going to be spending more time online. So how do we protect what makes it great and change what makes it terrifying?
它加速了數位世界 入侵實體世界的速度。 以前可以用電子郵件取代的會議 現在就用電子郵件取代。 搜尋引擎讓購物中心關門。 《要塞英雄》巡迴賽事 讓國家體育館被擠爆, 連 JPEG 圖檔的售價 都不輸給達文西作品。 不論接下來會如何,我們都 一定會花更多時間在網路上。 我們要如何保護讓網路不凡的因素, 並改變讓它讓人害怕的因素?
Well, first of all, I think we need an update. Internet access is no longer a luxury. It is a necessity for economic and individual development. For developing countries, increased access is a pathway out of poverty and enables smoother access to essential services like education and health care.
首先,我認為我們需要更新。 上網已經不是奢侈的行為。 經濟與個人發展都一定得要上網。 對開發中國家而言, 網路普及是脫離貧困的路。 且有助於更順利取得重要的服務, 如教育和健康照護。
As millions in the Global South have logged on, the way the world accesses the Internet has completely changed. In 2011, mobile internet use accounted for just 5% of total traffic. Today, it sits comfortably at 56%. Cheap phones and 4G have made the internet truly global, but it also means that most of us only access it through a handful of applications. The internet is in all of your pockets and this is a TED Talk, so it's probably on most of your wrists. Not mine. I've got a calculator.
隨著南方世界數百萬人開始上網, 全世界上網的方式已經完全改變了。 2011 年, 網路流量只有 5% 來自於行動網路。 現今,這個數字穩坐在 56%。 便宜的手機和 4G 網路 讓網際網路真的遍布全球, 但這也意味著我們大部分人 僅透過少數幾個應用程式上網。 網際網路就在各位的口袋中, 這是場 TED 演說,所以可能 還是在大部分人的手腕上。 我沒有。我手上的是計算機。
(Laughter)
(笑聲)讓我保持謙卑。
Keeps me humble. That’s where we access it, but we wouldn’t be able to if it weren't for unassuming, securely guarded buildings like this one. Internet exchange points where bandwidth is actually produced. If these places cease to operate, then the internet is down and not even the sweatiest guy in your IT department can do anything about it.
這是我們上網的方式, 但我們之所以能這麼做, 是因為有像這樣這樣不顯眼、 受安全保護的建築物, 網際網路交換中心, 頻寬就是在這裡產生的。 如果這些地方停止運作, 網際網路就會掛掉, 就連你資訊部門最汗流浹背的人員 也無能為力。
In 2011, the Egyptian government shut down one of the country's two main exchange points, the Ramses Exchange in Cairo. The internet was being used to organize protests as users were galvanized by sharing videos of ongoing violence in real time. For days, only a few government ministries and the stock market were connected to the internet. It was a threat to the crumbling regime. And when the government did fall, the internet got the lion's share of the credit. Protests were organized without appointed leaders and with unprecedented speed. And this is what the internet does that no other technology has ever come close to achieving: decentralized mass organization.
2011 年,埃及政府關閉了 該國的兩大交換中心之一, 開羅的萊姆西斯交換中心。 網際網路那時被用來組織 抗議活動,使用者所做的 是即時分享正在發生中的暴行影片。 有好幾天,只有少數政府部門 和股票市場能連上網際網路。 它威脅到了當時正在崩壞的政體。 當政府真的垮台時, 網際網路被認為是最大的功臣。 沒有指定的領導者, 抗議者仍能組織起來, 且組織速度前所未見。 這就是網際網路能辦到的, 其他技術根本望塵莫及。 分散式大規模組織。
Since then, though, regimes have gotten a lot better at harnessing the internet's power for themselves. In 2019, both Iran and Iraq faced potentially destabilizing protest movements, and both governments reacted by pulling the national router.
不過,從那之後, 政權本身也變得更擅長 利用網際網路的力量。 2019 年,伊朗和伊拉克都 面臨到可能會造成動盪的抗議運動, 兩國政府的因應方式 都是拔掉全國的路由器。
These blackouts, though, are costly. Iraq's 11-day shutdown was estimated to cost their economy over 2 billion dollars. Iran's only lasted eight days, but the communication blackout was used to imprison organizers and murder protesters in the hundreds. Video of violence made its way online once access was restored, but by then, the protest movement had lost all momentum.
但這些斷網管制的成本很高。 伊拉克封鎖十一天,估計經濟的成本 超過二十億美金。 伊朗只封鎖了八天,但通訊管制 被用來囚禁組織者 並殺害數百名抗議者。 一旦網際網路恢復之後, 暴行影片就被放上網, 但到了那時,抗議運動 已經失去了衝力。
This year, the frontline fight for the free internet has been in Myanmar. The military junta seized power in February and enacted nightly internet shutdowns to hinder protest and hide human rights abuses. Social media was banned for months, but activists have been successfully skirting restrictions using VPNs to access restricted services and to document state violence.
今年, 解放網際網路的前線戰場 已經移到了緬甸。 軍政府在二月奪權, 實施夜間網際網路封鎖, 以阻礙抗議並隱藏侵害人權的行為。 社群媒體被禁了好幾個月, 但活動人士成功繞過限制, 他們用虛擬私有網路(VPN) 取得受限制的服務, 並記錄國家的暴行。
This is guerrilla cyberwarfare in action and it has real world casualties. Mobile phones might be empowering the resistance, but they are also facilitating data-driven mass surveillance. Use the wrong platform and the government can monitor your private messages and automatically delete them before they reach their intended recipient. To me, this is like halfway between the government censoring your mail and your thoughts.
這就是真正的游擊網路戰爭, 且會造成真實世界的傷亡。 手機可能協助提供了抵抗的力量, 但也促成了資料導向的大規模監控。 用錯了平台,政府就能 監視你的私人訊息, 還能自動刪除它們, 不讓它們被送達 應該收到訊息的收件人。 對我而言,這就已經很接近 政府審查你的郵件和你的想法。
But it's not hopeless. Just before the junta took over, their arrival was documented in this viral video by a fitness influencer.
但不要絕望。 在軍政府接管之前, 這位健身網紅的影片記錄到了 他們的抵達,在網路上瘋傳。 (歡快的音樂)
(Upbeat music)
That is the junta's top brass arriving in the background to depose the democratically elected leader.
背景是軍政府的高層抵達, 要來罷免民選的領袖。
Now I love this video. It's simultaneously absurd and tragic, which I feel like are the twin moods of the internet at the moment. But it also shows that even when the entire national infrastructure of the internet is controlled by a repressive regime, information still wants to be free.
我很愛這支影片。 它既荒唐又悲劇, 我覺得那就是當時 網際網路的雙重心情。 但它也顯示, 即使全國的網際網路基礎設施 都受到高壓政權的控制, 資訊仍然渴望自由。
In the West, though, some of us are worried that information has gone a bit too free. In some cases, fact-free. Disinformation and misinformation on social media are testing the boundaries of free speech.
不過,在西方, 我們有些人擔心的是資訊太過自由。 在某些情況下根本脫離事實。 社群媒體上的假消息和錯誤消息 在測試言論自由的界線。 世界衛生組織將疫情 稱為資訊流行病,
The World Health Organization has called the pandemic an infodemic, with their official updates sharing a timeline with posts telling you to cure coronavirus by drinking bleach. In the UK, a conspiracy theory linking 5G to coronavirus spread so quickly that it led to over 30 arson attacks on cell towers in March 2020 alone. Absurd. Tragic, once again. But it's easy to see there's a problem.
同一時間,有他們的官方最新消息, 也有貼文告訴你喝漂白水 可以治好新冠肺炎。 在英國,將 5G 和新冠肺炎 連在一起的陰謀論 非常快速地傳開, 造成三十多起針對 通訊基地台的縱火攻擊, 這只是 2020 三月的數字。 又是荒唐且悲劇,但很容易 看出來有問題存在。
Combating disinformation is tricky when mega-platforms have become so enormous that they're nearly impossible to effectively moderate. When Facebook attempted to use machine learning to identify and remove dangerous posts, it often couldn't tell the difference between government guidance and posts meant to mimic it. Imperfect machines ultimately create imperfect machines.
對抗假消息是很棘手的, 因為大型平台變得非常龐大, 幾乎不可能有效管理它們。 當臉書試圖用機器學習來識別 並移除危險的貼文時, 它通常無法區別政府指引 以及刻意模仿它的貼文。 不完美的機器最終 也創造出不完美的機器。
So this is a very human problem and it obviously outdates the internet. There's always been demand for disinformation. It's based on what people want to believe. And where there is demand, there is opportunity to supply. Facebook themselves will tell you that most disinformation on their platform is financially incentivized. Malicious actors who own small websites crammed with ads, who will pay to advertise on Facebook first to get the ball rolling. Platforms might not be able to moderate everything we say and I don’t think they should, but they are more than capable of disrupting and regulating who pays them.
這是個非常人性的問題, 顯然在網際網路之前就存在了。 對假消息的需求一直存在。 它的根據是人想要相信的事物。 有需求的地方, 就有供應的機會。 臉書自己會告訴你, 該平台上大部分的假消息 都有財務上的誘因。 把小型網站塞滿 廣告的那些惡意行為者 會先付錢買臉書上的廣告 來推動其計畫。 平台可能無法管理我們所有的言論, 我也不認為它們應該這麼做。 但他們絕對有能力可以阻擋 和管制要做誰的生意。
Of course, mega-platforms resist any regulation of their advertising because it's where they make most of their money. We all know they aren't selling us a service. They're selling access to our eyeballs.
當然大型平台會反對針對 它們的廣告做規範,因為 那是它們主要的收益來源。 我們都知道它們並不是 賣服務給我們。 它們賣的是我們的關注。
There's now a widespread distrust of the unregulated Internet. In the UK, there has been popular public campaigns and subsequent government proposals to connect social media accounts to government-issued identification, getting rid of the anonymity and holding people accountable for all the naughty things they say online.
現在很多人都不信任 未受管制的網際網路, 在英國,一直都有知名的公眾運動 和後續的政府提案, 要求把社群媒體帳號連結到 政府發行的實名身分, 擺脫匿名, 讓大家對自己在線上 說的玩笑話負起責任,
This is well-meaning, but it's a fucking terrible idea. Marginalized groups and political dissidents rely on anonymity to protect their free speech, and having your government ID connected to your social media account would leave you extremely vulnerable to phishing scams and identity theft.
出發點很好, 但這點子爛爆了。 被邊緣化的族群及政治 異議人士要仰賴匿名 來保護他們的言論自由, 而把你的政府身分證 連結到你的社群媒體帳戶 會讓你非常容易遭受 釣魚詐騙和身分盜用。
I don't share my name online or anywhere publicly, not because I'm shy, but because I'm just curious to see how long I can keep it up. Gaining notoriety but retaining anonymity is a unique privilege of the information age, so why not take advantage of it?
我不會在線上或任何 公眾場合公開我的名字, 不是因為我很害羞,而是因為 我很好奇我能保持多久。 能夠聲名狼藉但同時保持匿名 是資訊時代獨一無二的特權, 那為何不好好利用它?
The internet is difficult to tame because it was built that way. This is Jon Postel, a man who once held the unofficial title of “God of the internet.” Here he is posing in front of a hand-drawn map of it in 1998. The US government had contracted Jon to run the root authority of the Domain Name System, the closest thing the internet's infrastructure has to the top of its hierarchy. Basically when you type in twitter.com or paymytaxes.gov, the root authority is what makes sure you get there. That's an oversimplification, but what you need to understand is that whoever controls the root authority controls access to every website and theoretically could delete all of them.
很難馴服網際網路, 因為它天生就是如此。 這位是喬恩‧波斯特爾, 曾經擁有「網際網路之神」 這個非官方頭銜。 照片攝於 1998 年,他站在 網際網路的手繪地圖前面。 美國政府聘請喬恩來管理 域名系統的根憑證, 這是網際網路基礎設施中 最高層級的權限。 基本上,當你輸入 twitter.com 或 paymytaxes.gov, 確保你能連上那些網站的 就是根憑證。 這樣講過於簡化, 但各位要知道的是,控制根憑證的人 就能控制每個網站的存取權, 理論上,也能刪除所有網站。
So when the US government asked Jon to hand control over, he said no. And this one act of resistance would lead to the creation of ICANN, an international multistakeholder group that ensures the global internet can't be controlled by a single company or government.
所以當美國政府要求 喬恩交出控制權時, 他拒絕了。 這一個反抗行為, 導致 ICANN 的創立, 它是個國際性的多方利益組織, 旨在確保全球網際網路 不會被單一企業或政府控制。
Naturally, some governments have resisted this. Notably, the Chinese government have been advocating for what they call internet sovereignty since 2013. This is the idea that each country has the right to control a separate version of the internet within their own borders. Of course, China's internet has worked this way for decades, but it's increasingly an attractive option to others. Iran booted up their own version in 2018, and Russia are quietly testing theirs out.
當然,有些政府會反對。 尤其是中國政府 從 2003 年起就在提倡 他們所謂的網際網路主權。 這個概念是,每個國家都有權 控制它們境內各自的網際網路版本。 當然,中國的網際網路已經 以這種方式運作了數十年, 但對其他國家來說它是個 越來越有吸引力的選項。 2018 年伊朗啟動了 他們自己的版本, 俄羅斯則靜靜地在測試他們的版本。
And these national firewalls are used to restrict unwanted information, but their main priority is to crush organization that happens outside of a party political structure. And frankly, if it is disinformation that we're worried about, governments are the last group we should trust with regulating it.
這些國家的防火牆是要用來 限制不想要的資訊, 但他們的第一優先 是要鎮壓黨派政治結構以外的組織。 坦白說,如果我們擔心的是假消息, 我們最不應該相信的 管理組織就是政府。
In 2018, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg claimed that the company deleted over 1.3 billion fake accounts in just six months. A few hundred million of them were probably cooked up here, in the old Saint Petersburg office of the Internet Research Agency, a private company owned by a close friend of Vladimir Putin and a state-funded troll army. Their job is to spread disinformation and sow discord online with a phantom army of puppet accounts and conspiracy theories. Their job isn't to bolster the argument of one side, but to inflame debate and make all sides look equally ridiculous. But this nihilistic genre of propaganda is incredibly weak when it's confronted with the sincerity of outsiders.
2018 年,臉書的營運長 雪莉‧山德柏格 聲稱該公司在僅六個月之內 就刪除了超過十三億個假帳戶。 其中幾百萬個可能是在這裡產生的, 這是俄羅斯網路水軍 在聖彼得堡的舊辦公室, 它是普丁的一位密友 旗下的私人公司, 也是由國家資助的網軍。 他們的工作是要散播假消息 並在網路上製造不和, 靠的是一支傀儡帳戶組成的幽靈軍隊 和陰謀論。 他們的工作並不是支持一方的言論, 而是煽動爭論,讓各方 看起來同樣荒謬。 但這種虛無主義式的宣傳, 在面臨外人的真誠時, 就會特別脆弱。
That's why I think Alexei Navalny is the most interesting person on the internet today. If you don’t know who he is, he’s a lot of things: a dissident, lawyer, criminal and YouTuber who took on the Russian government. His video on Putin's palace got 120 million views, which inspires professional awe and jealousy in me. And aside from some high-budget drone shots, there is very little new information in this video. It's a compilation of previously available sources, sometimes decades-old information. But unlike these old sources, this video reached 25 million people in 24 hours and delivered this information in an exciting, hilarious and inclusive way.
這就是為什麼我認為 阿列克謝‧納瓦尼 是現今網際網路上最有意思的人物。 如果你不認識他,他有很多身分, 異議人士、律師、罪犯, 以及 YouTuber, 他槓上了俄羅斯政府。 他的普丁豪宅影片 點閱率高達一億兩千萬人次, 讓我內心充滿專業上的敬佩和嫉妒。 除了一些由無人機拍攝的 高預算鏡頭之外, 這支影片中沒有什麼新資訊。 它是個合輯,匯整 先前就可取得的資料, 有些資訊還是數十年前的。 但和舊資料不同的是, 這支影片在二十四小時內 就觸及了兩千五百萬人, 影片用很讓人興奮、 很幽默,且包容的方式 來傳遞這些資訊。
After surviving an assassination attempt and being sentenced to a penal colony, Navalny is still leading resistance online. The Kremlin have duly blocked access to this video and have blocked access to Smart Voting websites, which Navalny has been propagating. We might be frightened of mega-platforms, but they are empowering individuals and giving outsiders an audience that dwarfs the one offered by legacy media establishments that dominated the information market during the last century.
逃過了一次刺殺, 被判刑送往囚犯殖民之後, 納瓦尼仍然在線上領導反抗。 克里姆林宮完全阻斷了 觀賞這支影片的管道, 也阻擋了「智慧投票」網站, 都是納瓦尼一直在宣傳的網站。 我們可能會很害怕大型平台, 但它們能夠賦予個人更大的能力, 並給予外人很大的觀眾群, 遠超過上世紀支配資訊市場的 傳統媒體機構所提供的。
And I know it feels like we're spending our lives flicking between the same four apps, and that's because we are. Around 80% of internet traffic is captured by only a handful of companies and we're spending progressively more time with them. Thanks to lockdown and home working, internet use in the UK doubled in just one year. And all of those Netflix binges are putting a strain on the internet's infrastructure.
我知道感覺好像我們把人生 都花在點選同樣四個應用程式, 因為事實如此。 大約 80% 的網路流量 都被少數幾家企業佔據, 我們給它們的時間也越來越多。 因為封城以及在家工作, 英國的網際網路使用量 在一年內變為兩倍。 大家在網飛上追劇, 給了網際網路基礎設施很大的壓力。
This is a hyperscale data center. There's around 600 of them worldwide and over half of them are owned by either Amazon, Microsoft, Google or Apple. The number of these computer cabinet labyrinths has doubled in the last five years to keep up with our ever-increasing demand. And this has upset internet service providers who claim that these bandwidth-hogging companies aren't paying their fair share. And maybe they aren't.
這是一間超大規模資料中心。 全球大約有六百間這種中心, 其中超過一半 隸屬於亞馬遜、 微軟、谷歌,或蘋果。 這些電腦機櫃迷宮的數量 在過去五年間變為兩倍, 因為要跟上我們不斷增加的需求。 這讓網際網路服務提供者很苦惱, 它們宣稱這些獨佔頻寬的企業 沒有付出它們應付的份。 也許它們沒有。
And while I do think it is concerning that so few companies control so much of the internet, I don't think their reign is assured. Internal projections at Facebook show that teenagers are abandoning their platform in their droves, so much so that their American user base could decrease by up to 45% in two years.
雖然我確實認為少數幾家企業 控制網際網路的大部分 是應該要憂慮的事, 但我不認為它們就能稱霸。 臉書的內部預測指出 青少年正在大量拋棄 這些企業的平台, 程度到了這些平台的美國使用者基數 可能會在兩年內減少高達 45%。
I'm not saying that the problem will solve itself. These platforms are powerful, but only in proportion to the time and attention that we give them. It's easy to forget that the internet is still in its infancy and new competitors are gathering in every corner.
我並不是說問題會自己解決。 這些平台很強大, 但仍然取決於我們 給它們的時間和注意力。 我們很容易忘記,網際網路 現在還在嬰兒期, 且新競爭者開始在各處崛起。
Then there are competitors like the super apps. And these apps are interesting. They're mobile-only, mostly an Asian phenomenon so far. They are applications that position themselves as a one-stop shop for all your internet-based needs. Singapore has Grab, Indonesia has GoTo, but by far the most popular is China's WeChat.
還有像超級應用程式這樣的競爭者。 這些應用程式很有意思。 它們只有手機版, 目前主要是在亞洲才有的現象。 這些應用程式把自己定位成 滿足你網際網路需求的 一站式購齊式商店。 新加坡有 Grab, 印尼有 GoTo, 但目前最知名的還是中國的微信。
With over 1.3 billion active daily users, WeChat has integrated itself into the fabric of normal social life in China. It's your driver's license, your debit card and your phone. It's where you pay your landlord, book flights, hotels and doctor's appointments. It has supercharged China's journey towards a cashless society, replacing coins with QR codes, with even the homeless forced to upgrade.
每天有超過十三億個活躍使用者, 微信已經把它自己整合 到中國的一般社交生活結構中。 它是你的駕照、 你的簽帳卡,和你的手機。 你用它付錢給你的房東、 訂機票和飯店, 還可以預約掛號看病。 它加速了中國實現 無現金社會的進程, 用 QR code 取代硬幣, 就連街友都被迫要升級。
And it is a brilliant tool. It has brought older generations and the industrial working class online and given them easier access to essential services. But it also conveniently bundles up all of your personal data, private messages and physical whereabouts for a government with backdoor access. The surveillance enabled by these super apps is threatening to turn privacy into a relic of the 20th century. Because when there's only one platform, there's nowhere left to hide.
它是個很出色的工具。 它把老一輩的人和工人 階級的人都帶上網了, 讓他們更容易取得必要的服務。 但它也很順便地打包了 你所有的個人資料、 私人訊息, 以及實體的所在, 讓擁有後門存取權的政府來使用。 因為這些超級應用程式 而成為可能的監控 造成的威脅是它可能會讓 隱私變成二十世紀的遺物。 因為當只有一個平台時, 就無處可躲了。
The internet was built to be plural, to exist nowhere in particular and to be accessible everywhere. Internet culture is global culture, arguably the first ever instance of it, and we must ensure that everyone has equal access. No one in this room knows what the internet will look like in ten, 50 or 100 years, but we can be damn sure it'll be here. It's the greatest invention of all of our lifetimes, and we must ensure that it reflects the best of us. It must be open, enquiring, cooperative and suspicious of authority.
網際網路被設計成是多元的, 沒有特別的所在之處, 且在任何地方都可以存取。 網際網路文化就是全球文化, 可以說是全球文化的第一個例子, 我們必須要確保人人 都有平等的存取權。 在座沒有人會知道在十年、 五十年,或一百年後, 網際網路會是什麼樣子, 但我們可以很確定它一定還會在。 它是我們世代最偉大的發明, 我們必須要確保它能 反映出我們最好的部分。 它必須是開放式的、 探究式的、 合作式的, 且要對權威抱持懷疑。
Thank you.
謝謝。
(Applause)
(掌聲)