Melbourne (UK), Sep 18 (The Conversation) Last week, the US government released six principles for reforming Big Tech.

It's the latest example of growing efforts to regulate the handful of companies with enormous influence over the internet. But while there's a growing appetite for a new, better kind of internet, it's hard to imagine what that might look like.

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We've just published research that looks at one alternative – a social network called Scuttlebutt, which provides an example of a platform that puts people before profit.

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The internet wasn't supposed to be like this

In the 1990s, many thought the internet would make the world a better place.

By letting ordinary people connect across vast distances, it would help us become more empathetic and egalitarian. Today, that vision seems naive. The internet is fraught with serious issues regulators are struggling to tackle.

One factor underpinning many of these problems is the huge influence that a handful of companies, such as Meta and Google, have over the internet.

By putting corporate interests ahead of user wellbeing and society at large, they are key contributors to misinformation, privacy violations, and online harassment and abuse.

There's increasing interest in regulating these companies and the markets in which they operate, including from the Australian government. However, it's hard to imagine alternatives to an internet dominated by private companies – they are such a ubiquitous and powerful part of our online lives. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)