On Wednesday 23 February, Sienna W (Year 13) gave a fascinating talk to Academic Scholars about censorship on the internet.

Sienna, who has an offer of a place to study PPE at Oxford, detailed how algorithms on websites such as YouTube, and on social media platforms, have created what she described as a ‘dystopian’ situation where viewers of innocent baking tutorials are gradually being recommended more and more radical, extremist content, while ‘existing moderation policies are implemented in ways that hit people of colour harder – as a result of moderators being unconsciously biased against them.’

In the following extract from her speech, she suggests some positive solutions to the current crisis.

Our internet is broken. But how can we fix it? Censorship as it currently exists seems inadequate at best, or downright harmful at worst. So let’s have a look at some other, radical methods of regulating our internet.

My favourite so far is ‘librarians’ and curated content. We could replace algorithms with people; we could replace engageability with reputability and usefulness. Other methods include decentralised, self-moderating communities, similar to Reddit.

I find this stuff so exciting. Often it feels like we’re stuck with broken systems, but this gives me hope that things can be better and to me at least, that’s really refreshing. I think these practical new visions of the internet are really powerful.

I think most problems can be solved, once you approach them with a truly open mind. You can then start to imagine what things could look like, instead of being bound by what they are.

So what can be done by us?

We can all boost our digital literacy, improving our own understanding of how to navigate the internet.

Be careful with what you share. Think critically about what you see – what’s its purpose? What is it trying to get you to believe? What does it assume or omit?

And of course, it’s important to check sources, and do your own research.

Here’s where most people would tell you to read about the subject from an unbiased source, and I see what they’re getting at, but I can't agree. It's not helpful advice to give because every source has a bias; everything is written by people who write from their own perspective and understanding.

I think the most important thing is not only to think critically about what you interact with online, but also about yourself: what are your biases? What are the blindspots in your knowledge? What perspectives do you naturally sympathise with, and what do you tend to dismiss? And are your reasons behind that valid?

This stuff is hard to do, there’s no getting around it. But I think it’s worth putting the work in for a safer, healthier internet that works for all of us. Even if you just try thinking critically while scrolling through Instagram tonight, I think you’ll be surprised. It's like interacting with your feed on a whole other level.

Finally: don’t be scared to be creative – radical solutions like the ones I’ve been talking about are only possible if we dare to imagine other ways of being. I hope I've shown you that that is possible.