Win ✅ Win ✅ Win ✅

Hi,

As I started to write this first sentence, I already knew that this was going to be my favourite email to send to you this year: it is all about winning. It’s about what you, I and the Mozilla community have accomplished together in 2023 in our fight to reclaim the internet.

In a moment, I’ll give you a few examples of how we have accomplished just that in 2023. Wins like these are only possible because Mozilla supporters like you help fund our work. So if you can, I’d like to ask if you could make a donation to Mozilla today to help us win even more campaigns.

Here are some of my favourite examples of how we have started to reclaim the internet in 2023. This is a long email, but it's important. Please keep reading.

Victory #1: Adding blocking to Slack

The problem: Have you or someone close to you ever been harassed online? Part of fighting for a healthy internet is making sure that everyone, especially people in vulnerable groups, feels safe online.

Our win: And together, we’ve done exactly that. After ongoing pressure by the Mozilla community and allies in our campaign, Slack introduced a new feature that allows users to hide other users and their messages – a critical safety feature to stop harassment and put people in control of their experience.

Victory #2: Making your car safe (for your data)

The problem: Have you ever wondered what personal information your new car with cameras, microphones, GPS, and lots and lots of sensors can collect on you? It's a lot! And car companies see dollar signs in all the data. They can record your voice, collect data from your phone, and much more. Car companies can also share and, in some cases, sell your deeply personal data – including your sexual activity and genetic information.

Our win: This year, Mozilla’s *Privacy Not Included team uncovered the intrusive data collection, and immediately, the Mozilla community rallied to pressure the car companies, fund a big campaign, and expose Toyota, Nissan, Volkswagen, Chevrolet, and many more.

Car companies have heard your message, and just recently a U.S. senator challenged the companies’ CEOs directly to answer some uncomfortable questions about their data practices. With your ongoing support, we will continue this work in 2024 to make sure that car companies respect our privacy!

Victory #3: Exposing harmful algorithms

The problem: Conspiracy theories, hate speech, and violent content – many of us have had irritating experiences on YouTube, wondering why the platform keeps recommending videos we don’t want to see.

Mozilla researchers and others in civil society looked behind YouTube’s recommendation algorithm and feedback mechanisms. Unsurprisingly, YouTube has not been transparent about how they work, but one thing was clear: The company's main goal is to keep people on the platform so it makes more money.

Our win: For years, we have been advocating for legislation that forces YouTube to open the black box of its algorithm. Researchers needed to study it, hold the company accountable, and make recommendations to mitigate the risks of automated recommendations. And finally, this year, YouTube announced that it is going to share data with independent researchers.

A victory a long time in the making, it is your persistence that made it possible to move YouTube. The EU's Digital Services Act, which our crowdsourced research – along with the work of other organisations – has helped to shape, will soon mandate further data sharing. And in the next few years, when new research again forces YouTube to take action, we will see just how important this campaign win has been.

Victory #4: Fighting off censorship

The problem: Can you imagine the government dictating which websites you can access? What sounds like an authoritarian dystopia was recently debated in France. The initial version of a French bill would have given the administration the power to enforce browser-level censorship.

Our win: Immediately, the global Mozilla community came together to fight for the free web – and we won. Thanks to tens of thousands of you signing our petition, donating to power the campaign, and sharing it online, the French National Assembly dropped browser-level blocking from the draft law “loi visant à sécuriser et réguler l’espace numérique” (SREN). Mozilla’s work was even mentioned several times during the debate in parliament!

The legislative discussions are delayed, but not yet over. For now, what could have been a dangerous precedent for other governments turned into an important win thanks to the pivotal support of Mozilla supporters like you.

Reclaiming the internet in 2024

These were great wins in 2023, but we need to do much more next year. We've shown what can be done when people come together to build a movement for a healthy internet. Now we need to invest more than ever in our movement, so that we can build bigger campaigns, hold more tech companies accountable, scrutinise the privacy standards of more products – all to reclaim the internet.

And it is your financial support that enables us to do what we do best. Will you make a $25 donation today to support our work and help us win even more campaigns to reclaim the internet in 2024?

Thank you for all that you do for the internet.

Christian Bock
Head of Supporter Engagement
Mozilla