// NATURE NEWS — SPAZIO & SCIENZA
How to put people first in cyberspace
Chris Stokel-Walker is a freelance journalist in Newcastle, UK.
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Francine Berman wants to maximize the benefits of digital tools while minimizing their risks. Credit: Zinj Guo
Better Tech: Putting People First in Cyberspace Francine Berman MIT Press (2026)
For decades, computer scientist Francine Berman has helped to shape the digital world. In Better Tech, the University of Massachusetts Amherst scholar makes the case that technology should serve the public interest. It is a timely manifesto for how to put people’s welfare at the centre of discussions about technological progress.
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When we think about critical infrastructure such as roads, the electrical grid and the financial system, we expect safeguards to protect the public. Those protections are a long way from being perfect. Bridges collapse, power grids fail and financial crises happen. But we still invest heavily in oversight, safety measures and regulation because these systems underpin everyday life.
Digital technologies now have a similarly central role, yet we often treat them differently. Instead of assuming they should be trustworthy and well governed, we spend a great deal of time protecting ourselves from them and questioning whether we can trust them. If we began treating digital technologies as critical infrastructure, we would be more likely to build them with safety, reliability and public benefit in mind from the outset. That would mean stronger standards and clearer rules about how these technologies are developed and used. The goal is not to eliminate risk, but to take these essential technologies seriously enough to manage that risk well.
I think search engines crossed that threshold long ago. Once most information moved online, such searches became the main way that people found knowledge and made decisions. In that sense, search engines are infrastructure. We need food to sustain our bodies; and we need reliable information to sustain an informed society. The problem is that today’s information systems are governed mostly by business incentives. Search engines use algorithms that connect users with advertisers, often prioritizing content on the basis of commercial interests rather than public benefit. That does not mean that they are inherently harmful, but it does mean that their influence is too important to operate without greater transparency and accountability.
The same is true of social media. Many of the most important public announcements, political debates and cultural conversations now happen there. What was once communicated through press releases or by official institutions is increasingly communicated through social platforms. They have become essential channels for public life. Yet these platforms often lack the safeguards that we would expect from infrastructure of that importance. Users face cyberbullying and predatory behaviour. Recommendation systems can pull people into endless scrolling and narrow information environments. None of this is inevitable. These platforms were designed to maximize growth and engagement, and they have been remarkably successful at doing that. But design choices are choices. We could build systems that are both profitable and protective.