What to Get Right First
Background
In this piece, our 2021 fellow, Rebecca MacKinnon, lays out a crucial guide for the Web3 community, urging it to learn from the human rights failures of Web2.
At Starling Lab, we believe it’s essential to proactively build a more equitable internet. Rebecca contends that the concept of “technological neutrality” is a fallacy that allowed Web2 to amplify societal biases, and calls on Web3 to instead embed human rights considerations into the very fabric of its technology and governance. To achieve this, she advocates for a proactive approach to risk mitigation, a critical examination of business models, and the establishment of robust grievance mechanisms from the outset.
Highlighting the importance of collaboration, this article stresses the need for the Web3 ecosystem to work with civil society and other stakeholders to identify blind spots and ensure accountability, ultimately making a compelling case for a more responsible approach to innovation.