MOZILLA FOUNDATION

The open, global internet is the most powerful communication and collaboration resource we have ever seen. It embodies some of our deepest hopes for human progress. It enables new opportunities for learning, building a sense of shared humanity, and solving the pressing problems facing people everywhere.
Over the last decade we have seen this promise fulfilled in many ways. We have also seen the power of the internet used to magnify divisiveness, incite violence, promote hatred, and intentionally manipulate fact and reality. We have learned that we should more explicitly set out our goals and aspirations for the human experience of the internet. These goals and aspirations include:

1. An internet that includes all the peoples of the earth - where a person’s demographic characteristics do not determine their online access, opportunities, or quality of experience.
2. An internet that promotes civil discourse, human dignity, and individual expression.
3. An internet that elevates critical thinking, reasoned argument, shared knowledge, and verifiable facts.
4. An internet that catalyzes collaboration among diverse communities working together for the common good.
5. An internet that is an integral part of modern life - a key component in education, communication, collaboration, business, entertainment and society as a whole
6. An internet that is a global public resource that must remain open and accessible.
7. An internet that enriches the lives of individual human beings.
8. An internet that prioritizes individuals’ security and privacy as fundamental, not optional.
9. An internet that allows individuals to shape it and their own experiences on it.
10. An internet that is interoperable and decentralized.
11. An internet in which free and open source software promotes its development as a public resource.
12. An internet that promotes participation, accountability and trust through transparent community-based processes .
14. An internet that has balance between commercial profit and public benefit.
14. An internet that inspires magnification of its public benefit.

But today, we must also seek out and address emerging challenges like algorithmic bias in Silicon Valley, Orwellian biometric systems in India, and privacy concerns with big data. To do this, Mozilla recently developed a process to name a 3-4 year “impact goal” that answers the question, “What concrete improvements in internet health can we make in the next 3–5 years?”

This year, in 2019, we chose Ethical Artificial Intelligence and Machine decision making, and success looks like this: “We understand when machines are making decisions for us and about us. We have a way to work alongside them and correct them if they make mistakes. In pursuing this goal, we might work toward automation that puts people, and not profit, first; heightened public awareness around the role and influence of AI in our everyday lives; or frameworks that ensure ethical, equitable, and accountable automation.”

The direct work of the Mozilla Foundation focuses on fueling the movement for a healthy internet, with 60% of our resources aimed at moving the needle on our primary impact goal -- trustworthy artificial intelligence and machine decision making. We do this by supporting a diverse group of fellows working on key internet issues, connecting open internet leaders at events like MozFest, publishing critical research in the Internet Health Report, and rallying citizens around advocacy issues that connect the wellbeing of the internet directly to everyday life.
By investing in the thinking, leaders, and campaigns that have meaningful impact today -- Mozilla works to lay the groundwork for a major shift in how the public, companies, and governments think about the internet over the next 5 - 10 years.

We are putting our strategy into motion by:

1. Investing in and connecting the leaders who are shaping how we think about, build, and protect the internet through fellowships, awards, and convenings. Just this year alone, we are enabling dozens of leaders across a variety of disciplines to examine, collaborate, and solve for some of the biggest challenges facing us.

2. Spotlighting and amplifying the major issues shaping the internet through our open-source Internet Health Report. Drawing upon a wide body of existing research, the Report looks at issues ranging from privacy, connectivity, to online harassment and the economics of online platforms. The Report is a resource and call to action for everyone who is ready, in big ways and small, to take on the challenge of changing the internet for the better.

3. Mobilizing a critical mass of people through campaigns that inform, mobilize, and grow the number of individuals globally taking action. Most recently, we activated more than 70,000 people to successfully petition Facebook for transparency and choice around the kinds of data it was collecting on users' friends through third party apps. We also convinced a large swath of retailers, both online and off, to stop selling one of the most insecure internet-connected toys (CloudPets) that was on the market. Our campaigns are designed to score critical wins, which build momentum for bigger ones, better policies, and better products.

The Mozilla Foundation is part of a global network of partners, allies, experts, activists, and volunteers all working together to fuel the movement for a healthier internet.

We are in our seventh year of supporting more than a hundred global leaders as fellows working on the frontlines of internet health. We’ve launched scores of global advocacy campaigns that have changed the behavior of some of the world’s largest companies, and we’re launching our 2nd annual Internet Health Report -- an open source initiative to document and explain what’s happening to the health of the internet. We work hard to get the report into the hands of policy makers, legislators, business owners, citizens and more -- in several languages -- to help them keep pace with emerging threats.

The Mozilla Foundation is the sole shareholder in the Mozilla Corporation, the maker of Firefox and other open source tools. Mozilla Corporation functions as a self-sustaining social enterprise – money earned through its products is reinvested into the organization. Mozilla Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Foundation, makes consumer internet products that advance the same values outlined in the Mozilla Manifesto.

The real power behind Mozilla is a global community of tens of thousands of volunteers, allies and partners. Members of the Mozilla community participate by doing everything from contributing code to Firefox and teaching digital literacy to translating our software, organizing advocacy campaigns and writing the world's most-referenced web developer site.

In 2018, the Mozilla Foundation carried out an evaluation of its 2016-2018 strategy. The evaluation came out with the following findings.

Strategy overall.
The results on key performance indicators (KPIs) laid out in the Foundation’s original 2016-2018 plan have been primarily positive. For example, press coverage of the Foundation’s work on internet health issues increased threefold from 2015 to 2017, which correlates with respondents noting that Mozilla is increasingly seen as a mission-driven defender of the internet.

Change in public awareness.
Mozilla started tracking public opinion on internet health issues in 2016, including an ongoing series of Ipsos polls in the US and Germany. These polls show increased awareness of issues related to internet health. For example, online privacy and safety is top of mind in both countries, with awareness growing from 58% in 2016 to 68% in 2017 in Germany and 56% to 64% in the US.

Shape the Agenda.
Making open internet issues mainstream, globally was one of the key goals outlined in Mozilla Foundation’s 2016-2018 plan. A majority of external respondents said that the Foundation’s efforts to shape the agenda have been successful to date. Further, respondents noted that the introduction of ‘internet health’ as an umbrella term was useful for advancing this work. The Internet Health Report, a key part of the Foundation’s agenda-shaping effort, was described as a useful resource for our allies.

Connect Leaders.
The Mozilla Foundation’s 2016-2018 plan states that we need a new wave of leaders who will dedicate their lives and careers to building a more open, inclusive internet. In support of this vision, the vast majority of external survey respondents stated that developing new leaders is both an important and successful part of the strategy. Respondents indicated that the Foundation’s fellowship program is well respected, valued by the participants and helped raise awareness about internet health issues. Respondents also said Mozilla is an exceptional convener of individuals and organizations, frequently citing MozFest in this regard.

Rally Citizens.
The majority of external respondents validated the importance of Mozilla’s advocacy work, but at the same time weren’t sure if this work has been successful yet. Looking more granularly, a large-scale survey of supporters indicates that Mozilla has successfully built awareness and a constituency around some issues more than others. The vast majority of supporters are aware of Mozilla’s work on net neutrality and data privacy, but only a small minority are aware of work on copyright in the EU and the Aadhaar digital identity system in India. Also, it is notable that topics related to the Mozilla Foundation’s campaigns have garnered the most press coverage each year. Bigger success will likely be a matter of time, patience and continued quality work on issues that people care about.