From access to Zoom: measuring internet health during the pandemic

Image | Young woman holding smart phone home security mobile device rh2010

Caption: How does our internet use during the pandemic influenced the overall health of the internet? (Adobe Stock)

Audio | Spark : How is the internet's health during the pandemic?

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It's fair to say that many people's use of the internet has changed during the pandemic. For a lot of us sheltering in place or working from home, the internet has become our only portal into the rest of the world, whether it's communicating with family and friends, or keeping up with events in the news.
So how is the internet holding up? Usually, the Mozilla Foundation(external link), which makes the Firefox(external link) web browser, releases a report on the health of the internet each spring.
This year, however, it is focusing on how the pandemic is affecting internet health, in terms of access, safety and privacy.
"It sort of feels like we have entered the Matrix, but in a really crummy way," said Mark Surman(external link), the Mozilla Foundation's executive director.

Image | Mark Surman

Caption: Executive Director of the Mozilla Foundation Mark Surman discusses the health of the internet during the pandemic. (marksurman.commons.ca)

"We're always connected, visually, with other people. And it works better than you expect, and it's a whole heck of a lot worse than real life," he told Spark's(external link) Nora Young. "And it's tiring."
"It's become clear that the issues of digital life are so intertwined with real life, and those digital life issues are playing out in the pandemic, and potentially in ways that will set norms that are better or worse for the future," he said.
To hear the full interview with Mark Surman, click on the "listen" link above.