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{{Short description|Global system of connected computer networks}}
{{About|the worldwide computer network|the global system of pages accessed through URLs via the Internet|World Wide Web|other uses}}
{{Redirect|Interweb|the song by Poppy|Interweb (song)}}
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{{Use American English|date=August 2020}}
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<!-- The Internet and the World Wide Web are different concepts – please do not muddle them in this article :) -->

The '''Internet''' (or '''internet'''){{efn|See [[Capitalization of Internet|Capitalization of ''Internet'']]<!-- Added per discussion currently underway on the Talk page -->}} is the [[Global network|global system]] of interconnected [[computer network]]s that uses the [[Internet protocol suite]] (TCP/IP){{Efn|Despite the name, TCP/IP also includes UDP traffic, which is significant.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cc.gatech.edu/~dovrolis/Courses/8803_F03/amogh.ppt |author=Amogh Dhamdhere |title=Internet Traffic Characterization |access-date=2022-05-06}}</ref>}} to communicate between networks and devices. It is a [[internetworking|network of networks]] that comprises [[Private network|private]], public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope, linked by electronic, [[Wireless network|wireless]], and [[optical networking]] technologies. The Internet carries a vast range of [[Information technology|information services]] and resources, such as the interlinked [[hypertext]] documents and [[Web application|applications]] of the [[World Wide Web]] (WWW), [[email|electronic mail]], [[internet telephony]], [[streaming media]] and [[file sharing]].

Most [[Old media|traditional communication media]], including [[telephone]], [[radio]], [[television]], [[Mail|paper mail]], [[Newspaper|newspapers]], and [[Printing press|print publishing]], have been transformed by the Internet, giving rise to [[new media]] such as [[email]], [[online music]], [[Digital newspaper|digital newspapers]], [[news aggregator]]s, and [[Audio stream|audio]] and [[video streaming]] websites. The Internet has enabled and accelerated new forms of personal interaction through [[instant messaging]], [[Internet forum]]s, and [[social networking service]]s. [[Online shopping]] has also grown to occupy a significant market across industries, enabling firms to extend [[brick and mortar]] presences to serve larger markets. [[Business-to-business]] and [[financial services]] on the Internet affect [[supply chain]]s across entire industries. 

The Internet has no single centralized governance in either technological implementation or policies for access and usage. Each constituent network sets its own policies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/who-owns-internet.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140619070159/http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/who-owns-internet.htm |archive-date=19 June 2014|first=Jonathan|last=Strickland|title=How Stuff Works: Who owns the Internet?|date=3 March 2008|access-date=27 June 2014}}</ref> The overarching definitions of the two principal [[name space]]s on the Internet, the [[IP address|Internet Protocol address]] (IP address) space and the [[Domain Name System]] (DNS), are directed by a maintainer organization, the [[Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers]] (ICANN). The technical underpinning and standardization of the core protocols is an activity of the [[Nonprofit organization|non-profit]] [[Internet Engineering Task Force]] (IETF).
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== Terminology ==
{{Further|Capitalization of Internet|internetworking}}

The word ''internetted'' was used as early as 1849, meaning ''interconnected'' or ''interwoven''.<ref>{{OED|Internetted}} nineteenth-century use as an adjective.</ref> The word ''Internet'' was used in 1945 by the United States War Department in a radio operator's manual,<ref>{{cite web |title=United States Army Field Manual FM 24-6 Radio Operator's Manual Army Ground Forces June 1945 |date=18 September 2023 |url=https://archive.org/details/Fm24-6/mode/2up |publisher=United States War Department }}</ref> and in 1974 as the shorthand form of Internetwork.<ref name="RFC675"/><ref name="IEEE Transactions on Communications" /> Today, the term ''Internet'' most commonly refers to the global system of interconnected [[computer network]]s, though it may also refer to any group of smaller networks.<ref name="The New York Times"/>

The word ''Internet'' may be capitalized as a [[Proper noun and common noun|proper noun]], although this is becoming less common.<ref name="The New York Times" /> This reflects the tendency in English to capitalize new terms and move them to lowercase as they become familiar.<ref name="The New York Times" /><ref name="Wired" /> The word is sometimes still capitalized to distinguish the global internet from smaller networks, though many publications, including the ''[[AP Stylebook]]'' since 2016, recommend the lowercase form in every case.<ref name="The New York Times">{{Cite news|last=Corbett|first=Philip B.|date=1 June 2016|title=It's Official: The 'Internet' Is Over|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/02/insider/now-it-is-official-the-internet-is-over.html|access-date=29 August 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=14 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201014142148/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/02/insider/now-it-is-official-the-internet-is-over.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Wired">{{Cite news|last=Herring|first=Susan C.|date=19 October 2015|title=Should You Be Capitalizing the Word 'Internet'?|magazine=Wired|url=https://www.wired.com/2015/10/should-you-be-capitalizing-the-word-internet/|access-date=29 August 2020|issn=1059-1028|archive-date=31 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031024342/https://www.wired.com/2015/10/should-you-be-capitalizing-the-word-internet/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2016, the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' found that, based on a study of around 2.5 billion printed and online sources, "Internet" was capitalized in 54% of cases.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Coren|first=Michael J.|title=One of the internet's inventors thinks it should still be capitalized|url=https://qz.com/698175/one-of-the-internets-inventors-thinks-it-should-still-be-capitalized/|access-date=8 September 2020|website=Quartz|date=2 June 2016 |language=en|archive-date=27 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927102759/https://qz.com/698175/one-of-the-internets-inventors-thinks-it-should-still-be-capitalized/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The terms ''Internet'' and ''[[World Wide Web]]'' are often used interchangeably; it is common to speak of "going on the Internet" when using a [[web browser]] to view [[web page]]s. However, the World Wide Web, or ''the Web'', is only one of a large number of Internet services.<ref>{{cite web|date=11 March 2014|title=World Wide Web Timeline|url=http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/03/11/world-wide-web-timeline/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729162322/http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/03/11/world-wide-web-timeline/|archive-date=29 July 2015|access-date=1 August 2015|publisher=Pews Research Center}}</ref> It is the global collection of web pages, documents and other [[web resource]]s linked by [[hyperlink]]s and [[Uniform resource locator|URLs]].<ref>{{cite web|title=HTML 4.01 Specification|url=http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/struct/links.html#h-12.1|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006131915/http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/struct/links.html|archive-date=6 October 2008|access-date=13 August 2008|publisher=World Wide Web Consortium|quote=[T]he link (or hyperlink, or Web link) [is] the basic hypertext construct. A link is a connection from one Web resource to another. Although a simple concept, the link has been one of the primary forces driving the success of the Web.}}</ref>

== History ==
{{Main|History of the Internet |History of the World Wide Web|Protocol Wars}}
[[File:A sketch of the ARPANET in December 1969.png|thumb|A sketch of the [[ARPANET]] in December 1969. The nodes at [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]] and the [[SRI International|Stanford Research Institute]] (SRI) are among those depicted.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Waldrop |first=Mitch |date=2015 |title=DARPA and the Internet Revolution |url=https://www.darpa.mil/attachments/(2O15)%20Global%20Nav%20-%20About%20Us%20-%20History%20-%20Resources%20-%2050th%20-%20Internet%20(Approved).pdf |access-date=May 16, 2024 |website=darpa.mil}}</ref>]]

=== 1960s ===
The origins of the Internet date back to research that enabled the [[time-sharing]] of computer resources, the development of [[packet switching]], and the design of computer networks for [[data communication]].<ref name="The Washington Post">{{Cite news |date=30 May 2015 |title=A Flaw in the Design |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/business/2015/05/30/net-of-insecurity-part-1/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108111512/https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/business/2015/05/30/net-of-insecurity-part-1/ |archive-date=8 November 2020 |access-date=20 February 2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post |quote=The Internet was born of a big idea: Messages could be chopped into chunks, sent through a network in a series of transmissions, then reassembled by destination computers quickly and efficiently. Historians credit seminal insights to Welsh scientist Donald W. Davies and American engineer Paul Baran. ... The most important institutional force ... was the Pentagon's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) ... as ARPA began work on a groundbreaking computer network, the agency recruited scientists affiliated with the nation's top universities.}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Yates |first=David M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ToMfAQAAIAAJ&q=packet+switch |title=Turing's Legacy: A History of Computing at the National Physical Laboratory 1945-1995 |date=1997 |publisher=National Museum of Science and Industry |isbn=978-0-901805-94-2 |pages=132–4 |language=en |quote=Davies's invention of packet switching and design of computer communication networks ... were a cornerstone of the development which led to the Internet}}</ref> 

In the 1960s, [[computer scientists]] began developing systems for [[time-sharing]] of computer resources.<ref name="Lee1992">{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=J.A.N. |last2=Rosin |first2=Robert F |date=1992 |title=Time-Sharing at MIT |url=https://archive.org/details/time-sharing-at-mit |journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing |volume=14 |issue=1 |page=16 |doi=10.1109/85.145316 |s2cid=30976386 |access-date=October 3, 2022|issn=1058-6180 }}</ref><ref name="ctsspg">F. J. Corbató, et al., ''[http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/mit/ctss/CTSS_ProgrammersGuide.pdf The Compatible Time-Sharing System A Programmer's Guide]'' (MIT Press, 1963) {{ISBN|978-0-262-03008-3}}. "To establish the context of the present work, it is informative to trace the development of time-sharing at MIT. Shortly after the first paper on time-shared computers by C. Strachey at the June 1959 UNESCO Information Processing conference, H.M. Teager and J. McCarthy delivered an unpublished paper "Time-Shared Program Testing" at the August 1959 ACM Meeting."</ref> [[J. C. R. Licklider]] proposed the idea of a universal network while working at [[Bolt Beranek & Newman]] and, later, leading the [[Information Processing Techniques Office]] at the [[Advanced Research Projects Agency]] (ARPA) of the United States [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]]. Research into [[packet switching]],{{Efn|Computers communicate over the Internet by breaking up messages (emails, images, videos, web pages, files, etc.) into small chunks called packets, which are routed through a network of computers, until they reach their destination, where they are assembled back into a complete message again.}} one of the fundamental Internet technologies, started in the work of [[Paul Baran]] at [[RAND]] in the early 1960s and, independently, [[Donald Davies]] at the United Kingdom's [[National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom)|National Physical Laboratory]] in 1965.<ref name="The Washington Post" /><ref name="NIHF2007">{{cite web|url=http://www.invent.org/honor/inductees/inductee-detail/?IID=316|title=Inductee Details – Paul Baran|publisher=National Inventors Hall of Fame|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906091231/http://www.invent.org/honor/inductees/inductee-detail/?IID=316|archive-date=6 September 2017|access-date=6 September 2017|postscript=none}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.invent.org/honor/inductees/inductee-detail/?IID=328|title=Inductee Details – Donald Watts Davies|publisher=National Inventors Hall of Fame|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906091936/http://www.invent.org/honor/inductees/inductee-detail/?IID=328|archive-date=6 September 2017|access-date=6 September 2017}}</ref> 

After the [[Symposium on Operating Systems Principles]] in 1967, packet switching from the proposed [[NPL network]] and routing concepts proposed by Baran were incorporated into the design of the [[ARPANET]], an experimental [[resource sharing]] network proposed by ARPA.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hauben |first1=Michael |url=http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/book-pdf/CHAPTER%205.pdf |title=Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet |last2=Hauben |first2=Ronda |date=1997 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-8186-7706-9 |language=en |chapter=5 The Vision of Interactive Computing And the Future |access-date=2 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103184558/http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/book-pdf/CHAPTER%205.pdf |archive-date=3 January 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Zelnick |first1=Bob |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q10phY811tUC&pg=PA66 |title=The Illusion of Net Neutrality: Political Alarmism, Regulatory Creep and the Real Threat to Internet Freedom |last2=Zelnick |first2=Eva |publisher=Hoover Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-8179-1596-4 |language=en |access-date=7 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110133435/https://books.google.com/books?id=Q10phY811tUC&pg=PA66 |archive-date=10 January 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Peter |first=Ian |year=2004 |title=So, who really did invent the Internet? |url=http://www.nethistory.info/History%20of%20the%20Internet/origins.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903001108/http://www.nethistory.info/History%20of%20the%20Internet/origins.html |archive-date=3 September 2011 |access-date=27 June 2014 |website=The Internet History Project}}</ref>

=== 1970s ===
The set of [[communication protocol]]s to enable [[internetworking]] on the Internet arose from research and development commissioned in the 1970s by the [[Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency]] (DARPA) of the [[United States Department of Defense]] in collaboration with universities and researchers across the [[United States]] and in the [[United Kingdom]] and [[France]].<ref name="Abbatep3">{{harvnb|Abbate|1999|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=9BfZxFZpElwC&pg=PA3 3] "The manager of the ARPANET project, Lawrence Roberts, assembled a large team of computer scientists ... and he drew on the ideas of network experimenters in the United States and the United Kingdom. Cerf and Kahn also enlisted the help of computer scientists from England, France and the United States"}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=27 October 2009 |title=The Computer History Museum, SRI International, and BBN Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of First ARPANET Transmission, Precursor to Today's Internet |url=https://www.sri.com/newsroom/press-releases/computer-history-museum-sri-international-and-bbn-celebrate-40th-anniversary |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329134941/https://www.sri.com/newsroom/press-releases/computer-history-museum-sri-international-and-bbn-celebrate-40th-anniversary |archive-date=March 29, 2019 |access-date=25 September 2017 |publisher=SRI International |quote=But the ARPANET itself had now become an island, with no links to the other networks that had sprung up. By the early 1970s, researchers in France, the UK, and the U.S. began developing ways of connecting networks to each other, a process known as internetworking.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=by Vinton Cerf, as told to Bernard Aboba |date=1993 |title=How the Internet Came to Be |url=http://elk.informatik.hs-augsburg.de/tmp/cdrom-oss/CerfHowInternetCame2B.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926042220/http://elk.informatik.hs-augsburg.de/tmp/cdrom-oss/CerfHowInternetCame2B.html |archive-date=September 26, 2017 |access-date=25 September 2017 |quote=We began doing concurrent implementations at Stanford, BBN, and University College London. So effort at developing the Internet protocols was international from the beginning.}}</ref> 

ARPANET development began with two network nodes which were interconnected between the [[University of California, Los Angeles]] and the [[SRI International|Stanford Research Institute]] on 29 October 1969.<ref name="NetValley">{{cite web|url=http://www.netvalley.com/intval.html|title=Roads and Crossroads of Internet History|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127082435/http://www.netvalley.com/intval.html|archive-date=27 January 2016|first=Gregory|last=Gromov|year=1995}}</ref> The third site was at the [[University of California, Santa Barbara]], followed by the [[University of Utah]]. By the end of 1971, 15 sites were connected to the young ARPANET.<ref>{{cite book | author-link = Katie Hafner | last = Hafner | first = Katie | title = Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet | publisher = Simon & Schuster | year = 1998 | isbn = 978-0-684-83267-8 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Hauben, Ronda |title=From the ARPANET to the Internet |year=2001 |url=http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/other/tcpdigest_paper.txt |access-date=28 May 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721093920/http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/other/tcpdigest_paper.txt |archive-date=21 July 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Internet Pioneers Discuss the Future of Money, Books, and Paper in 1972|url=https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/internet-pioneers-discuss-the-future-of-money-books-a-880551175|access-date=31 August 2020|website=Paleofuture|date=23 July 2013 |language=en-us|archive-date=17 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017141323/https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/internet-pioneers-discuss-the-future-of-money-books-a-880551175|url-status=live}}</ref> Thereafter, the ARPANET gradually developed into a decentralized communications network, connecting remote centers and military bases in the United States.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Townsend |first=Anthony |date=2001 |title=The Internet and the Rise of the New Network Cities, 1969–1999 |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/b2688 |journal=Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design |language=en |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=39–58 |doi=10.1068/b2688 |bibcode=2001EnPlB..28...39T |issn=0265-8135 |s2cid=11574572|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Other user networks and research networks, such as the [[Merit Network]] and [[CYCLADES]], were developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kim |first1=Byung-Keun |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lESrw3neDokC |title=Internationalising the Internet the Co-evolution of Influence and Technology |date=2005 |publisher=Edward Elgar |isbn=978-1-84542-675-0 |pages=51–55}}</ref>

Early international collaborations for the ARPANET were rare. Connections were made in 1973 to Norway ([[NORSAR]] and [[Norwegian Defence Research Establishment|NDRE]])<ref>{{cite web |title=NORSAR and the Internet |url=http://www.norsar.no/norsar/about-us/History/Internet/ |publisher=NORSAR |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121220318/http://www.norsar.no/norsar/about-us/History/Internet/ |archive-date=21 January 2013 }}</ref> and to [[Peter T. Kirstein|Peter Kirstein's]] research group at [[University College London]], which provided a gateway to [[Internet in the United Kingdom#History|British academic networks]], the first [[Internetworking|internetwork]] for [[resource sharing]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kirstein|first=P.T.|date=1999|title=Early experiences with the Arpanet and Internet in the United Kingdom|url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4773/f19792f9fce8eacba72e5f8c2a021414e52d.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207092443/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4773/f19792f9fce8eacba72e5f8c2a021414e52d.pdf|archive-date=2020-02-07|journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing|volume=21|issue=1|pages=38–44|doi=10.1109/85.759368|bibcode=1999IAHC...21a..38K |s2cid=1558618|issn=1934-1547}}</ref> 

ARPA projects, the [[International Network Working Group]] and commercial initiatives led to the development of various [[Communication protocol|protocols]] and standards by which multiple separate networks could become a single network, or a [[Internetworking|network of networks]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.internetsociety.org/internet/what-internet/history-internet/brief-history-internet#concepts|title=Brief History of the Internet: The Initial Internetting Concepts|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409105511/http://www.internetsociety.org/internet/what-internet/history-internet/brief-history-internet|archive-date=9 April 2016|first=Barry M.|last=Leiner|website=Internet Society|access-date=27 June 2014}}</ref> In 1974, [[Vint Cerf]] at [[Stanford University]] and [[Bob Kahn]] at DARPA published a proposal for "A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication".<ref name="IEEE Transactions on Communications">{{Cite journal |last1=Cerf |first1=V. |last2=Kahn |first2=R. |date=1974 |title=A Protocol for Packet Network Intercommunication |url=https://www.cs.princeton.edu/courses/archive/fall06/cos561/papers/cerf74.pdf |journal=IEEE Transactions on Communications |volume=22 |issue=5 |pages=637–648 |doi=10.1109/TCOM.1974.1092259 |bibcode=1974ITCom..22..637C |issn=1558-0857 |quote=The authors wish to thank a number of colleagues for helpful comments during early discussions of international network protocols, especially R. Metcalfe, R. Scantlebury, D. Walden, and H. Zimmerman; D. Davies and L. Pouzin who constructively commented on the fragmentation and accounting issues; and S. Crocker who commented on the creation and destruction of associations. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060913213037/https://www.cs.princeton.edu/courses/archive/fall06/cos561/papers/cerf74.pdf |archive-date=13 September 2006 |url-status=live }}</ref> Cerf and his students used the term ''internet'' as a shorthand for ''internetwork'' in ''{{IETF RFC|675}}''.<ref name="RFC675">{{cite IETF |title=Specification of Internet Transmission Control Protocol|rfc=675|last1=Cerf|first1=Vint|last2=Dalal|first2=Yogen|first3=Carl|last3=Sunshine |date=December 1974|publisher=[[Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]]}}</ref> The [[Internet Experiment Note|Internet Experiment Notes]] and later [[Request for Comments|RFCs]] repeated this use. The work of [[Louis Pouzin]] and others had important influences on the resulting [[TCP/IP]] design.<ref>{{Cite news |date=30 November 2013 |title=The internet's fifth man |url=https://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21590765-louis-pouzin-helped-create-internet-now-he-campaigning-ensure-its |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200419230318/https://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21590765-louis-pouzin-helped-create-internet-now-he-campaigning-ensure-its |archive-date=19 April 2020 |access-date=22 April 2020 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613 |quote=In the early 1970s Mr Pouzin created an innovative data network that linked locations in France, Italy and Britain. Its simplicity and efficiency pointed the way to a network that could connect not just dozens of machines, but millions of them. It captured the imagination of Dr Cerf and Dr Kahn, who included aspects of its design in the protocols that now power the internet.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite IETF|title=Final Report of the Standford University TCP Project|ien=151|last1=Cerf|first1=Vint|date=1 April 1980|publisher=[[Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]]}}</ref><ref name="IEEE Transactions on Communications" /> National [[Postal, telegraph and telephone service|PTTs]] and commercial providers developed the [[X.25]] standard and deployed it on [[public data network]]s.<ref>{{cite book|last=Schatt|first=Stan|title=Linking LANs: A Micro Manager's Guide|publisher=McGraw-Hill|year=1991|isbn=0-8306-3755-9|page=200}}</ref>

=== 1980s ===
The [[ARPANET]] initially served as a backbone for the interconnection of regional academic and military networks in the United States to enable [[resource sharing]]. Access to the ARPANET was expanded in 1981 when the [[National Science Foundation]] (NSF) funded the [[CSNET|Computer Science Network]] (CSNET).<ref>{{cite web |last=Stewart |first=Bill |date=January 2000 |title=Internet History – One Page Summary |url=http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii_summary.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702210150/http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii_summary.htm |archive-date=2 July 2014 |website=The Living Internet}}</ref> 

In 1982, the [[Internet Protocol Suite]] (TCP/IP) was standardized, which facilitated worldwide proliferation of interconnected networks. TCP/IP network access expanded again in 1986 when the [[National Science Foundation Network]] (NSFNet) provided access to [[supercomputer]] sites in the United States for researchers, first at speeds of 56&nbsp;kbit/s and later at 1.5&nbsp;Mbit/s and 45&nbsp;Mbit/s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merit.edu/about/history/pdf/NSFNET_final.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210181738/http://www.merit.edu/about/history/pdf/NSFNET_final.pdf|archive-date=2015-02-10|title=NSFNET: A Partnership for High-Speed Networking, Final Report 1987–1995|first=Karen D.|last=Frazer|website=Merit Network, Inc.|year=1995}}</ref> 

The NSFNet expanded into academic and research organizations in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan in 1988–89.<ref>{{cite web |author=Ben Segal |author-link=Ben Segal (computer scientist) |year=1995 |title=A Short History of Internet Protocols at CERN |url=http://www.cern.ch/ben/TCPHIST.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608153730/http://ben.web.cern.ch/ben/TCPHIST.html |archive-date=8 June 2023 |access-date=14 October 2011}}</ref><ref>[[RIPE|Réseaux IP Européens]] (RIPE)</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.apan.net/meetings/busan03/cs-history.htm|title=Internet History in Asia|work=16th APAN Meetings/Advanced Network Conference in Busan|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060201035514/http://apan.net/meetings/busan03/cs-history.htm|archive-date=1 February 2006|access-date=25 December 2005}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nordu.net/history/TheHistoryOfNordunet_simple.pdf|title=The History of NORDUnet|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031416/http://www.nordu.net/history/TheHistoryOfNordunet_simple.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref> Although other network protocols such as [[UUCP]] and PTT public data networks had global reach well before this time, this marked the beginning of the Internet as an intercontinental network. Commercial [[Internet service providers]] emerged in 1989 in the United States and Australia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rogerclarke.com/II/OzI04.html#CIAP|title=Origins and Nature of the Internet in Australia|last=Clarke|first=Roger|access-date=21 January 2014|archive-date=9 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209201253/http://www.rogerclarke.com/II/OzI04.html#CIAP|url-status=live}}</ref> The ARPANET was decommissioned in 1990.<ref>{{cite IETF |rfc=2235 |page=8 |last=Zakon |first=Robert |date=November 1997 |publisher=[[Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]] |access-date=2 December 2020}}</ref>

=== 1990s ===
[[File:NSFNET-backbone-T3.png|thumb|T3 [[NSFNET]] Backbone, {{Circa|1992}}]]

The linking of commercial networks and enterprises by the early 1990s, as well as the advent of the [[World Wide Web]],<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Desk Encyclopedia of World History |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7394-7809-7 |editor-last=Wright |editor-first=Edmund |location=New York |page=312}}</ref> marked the beginning of the transition to the modern Internet.<ref>"#3 1982: the ARPANET community grows" in [https://www.vox.com/a/internet-maps ''40 maps that explain the internet''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170306161657/http://www.vox.com/a/internet-maps|date=6 March 2017}}, Timothy B. Lee, Vox Conversations, 2 June 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2014.</ref> Steady advances in [[semiconductor]] technology and [[optical networking]] created new economic opportunities for commercial involvement in the expansion of the network in its core and for delivering services to the public. In mid-1989, [[MCI Mail]] and [[Compuserve]] established connections to the Internet, delivering email and public access products to the half million users of the Internet.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wDAEAAAAMBAJ&q=compuserve%20to%20mci%20mail%20internet&pg=PT31 |title=InfoWorld|date=25 September 1989 |via=Google Books |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129225422/https://books.google.com/books?id=wDAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT31&lpg=PT31&dq=compuserve%20to%20mci%20mail%20internet |archive-date=29 January 2017 }}</ref> 

Just months later, on 1 January 1990, PSInet launched an alternate Internet backbone for commercial use; one of the networks that added to the core of the commercial Internet of later years. In March 1990, the first high-speed T1 (1.5&nbsp;Mbit/s) link between the NSFNET and Europe was installed between [[Cornell University]] and [[CERN]], allowing much more robust communications than were capable with satellites.<ref>{{Cite web|date=February 1990|title=INTERNET MONTHLY REPORTS|url=http://ftp.cuhk.edu.hk/pub/doc/internet/Internet.Monthly.Report/imr9002.txt|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20170525080041/ftp://ftp.cuhk.edu.hk/pub/doc/internet/Internet.Monthly.Report/imr9002.txt|archive-date=25 May 2017|access-date=28 November 2020}}</ref>

Later in 1990, [[Tim Berners-Lee]] began writing [[WorldWideWeb]], the first [[web browser]], after two years of lobbying CERN management. By Christmas 1990, Berners-Lee had built all the tools necessary for a working Web: the [[HyperText Transfer Protocol]] (HTTP) 0.9,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.w3.org/Protocols/HTTP/AsImplemented.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970605071155/http://www.w3.org/Protocols/HTTP/AsImplemented.html |archive-date=5 June 1997 |first=Tim |last=Berners-Lee |title=The Original HTTP as defined in 1991 |work=W3C.org}}</ref> the [[HyperText Markup Language]] (HTML), the first Web browser (which was also an [[HTML editor]] and could access [[Usenet]] newsgroups and [[FTP]] files), the first HTTP [[server application|server software]] (later known as [[CERN httpd]]), the first [[web server]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://info.cern.ch/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105103513/http://info.cern.ch/|title=The website of the world's first-ever web server|archive-date=5 January 2010|website=info.cern.ch}}</ref> and the first Web pages that described the project itself. 

In 1991 the [[Commercial Internet eXchange]] was founded, allowing PSInet to communicate with the other commercial networks [[CERFnet]] and Alternet. [[Stanford Federal Credit Union]] was the first [[financial institution]] to offer online Internet banking services to all of its members in October 1994.<ref>{{cite press release|title=Stanford Federal Credit Union Pioneers Online Financial Services.|date=21 June 1995|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Stanford+Federal+Credit+Union+Pioneers+Online+Financial+Services.-a017104850|access-date=21 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221041632/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Stanford+Federal+Credit+Union+Pioneers+Online+Financial+Services.-a017104850|archive-date=21 December 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1996, [[OP Financial Group]], also a [[cooperative bank]], became the second online bank in the world and the first in Europe.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.op.fi/op-financial-group/about-us/op-financial-group-in-brief/history | title=History – About us – OP Group | access-date=21 December 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221041413/https://www.op.fi/op-financial-group/about-us/op-financial-group-in-brief/history | archive-date=21 December 2018 | url-status=live }}</ref> By 1995, the Internet was fully commercialized in the U.S. when the NSFNet was decommissioned, removing the last restrictions on use of the Internet to carry commercial traffic.<ref name="ConneXions-April1996">{{cite journal |url=http://www.merit.edu/research/nsfnet_article.php |title=Retiring the NSFNET Backbone Service: Chronicling the End of an Era |first1=Susan R. |last1=Harris |first2=Elise |last2=Gerich |journal=ConneXions |volume=10 |number=4 |date=April 1996 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130817124939/http://merit.edu/research/nsfnet_article.php |archive-date=17 August 2013 }}</ref>

As technology advanced and commercial opportunities fueled reciprocal growth, the volume of [[Internet traffic]] started experiencing similar characteristics as that of the scaling of [[MOS transistor]]s, exemplified by [[Moore's law]], doubling every 18 months. This growth, formalized as [[Edholm's law]], was catalyzed by advances in [[MOS technology]], [[laser]] light wave systems, and [[Noise (signal processing)|noise]] performance.<ref name="Jindal">{{cite book |last1=Jindal |first1=R. P. |title=2009 2nd International Workshop on Electron Devices and Semiconductor Technology |chapter=From millibits to terabits per second and beyond - over 60 years of innovation |s2cid=25112828 |year=2009 |volume=49 |pages=1–6 |doi=10.1109/EDST.2009.5166093 |chapter-url=https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/195547 |isbn=978-1-4244-3831-0 |access-date=24 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190823230141/https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/195547 |archive-date=23 August 2019 }}</ref>

=== 21st-century ===
{{Worldwide Internet users}}

Since 1995, the Internet has tremendously impacted culture and commerce, including the rise of near-instant communication by email, [[instant messaging]], telephony ([[Voice over Internet Protocol]] or VoIP), [[Video chat|two-way interactive video calls]], and the World Wide Web.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5242252.stm|title=How the web went world wide|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111121092636/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5242252.stm |archive-date=21 November 2011|first=Mark|last=Ward|website=Technology Correspondent|date=3 August 2006|publisher=BBC News|url-status=live|access-date=24 January 2011}}</ref> Increasing amounts of data are transmitted at higher and higher speeds over fiber optic networks operating at 1&nbsp;Gbit/s, 10&nbsp;Gbit/s, or more. The Internet continues to grow, driven by ever-greater amounts of online information and knowledge, commerce, entertainment and social networking services.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3626274 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081004000237/http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3626274|title=Brazil, Russia, India and China to Lead Internet Growth Through 2011 |publisher=Clickz.com |access-date=28 May 2009|archive-date=4 October 2008}}</ref> 

During the late 1990s, it was estimated that traffic on the public Internet grew by 100 percent per year, while the mean annual growth in the number of Internet users was thought to be between 20% and 50%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dtc.umn.edu/~odlyzko/doc/internet.size.pdf |title=The size and growth rate of the Internet |access-date=21 May 2007 |author1=Coffman, K.G |author2=Odlyzko, A.M. |author-link2=Andrew Odlyzko |publisher=AT&T Labs |date=2 October 1998 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614012344/http://www.dtc.umn.edu/~odlyzko/doc/internet.size.pdf |archive-date=14 June 2007 }}</ref> This growth is often attributed to the lack of central administration, which allows organic growth of the network, as well as the non-proprietary nature of the Internet protocols, which encourages vendor interoperability and prevents any one company from exerting too much control over the network.<ref>{{cite book | last = Comer | first = Douglas | title = The Internet book | publisher = Prentice Hall | page = [https://archive.org/details/internetbookever00come_0/page/64 64] | isbn = 978-0-13-233553-9 | year = 2006 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/internetbookever00come_0/page/64 }}</ref>

In November 2006, the Internet was included on ''[[USA Today]]''{{'}}s list of the [[Wonders of the World#USA Today's New Seven Wonders|New Seven Wonders]].<ref>{{cite web |date=27 October 2006 |title=New Seven Wonders panel |url=https://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2006-10-26-seven-wonders-experts_x.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715032114/http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2006-10-26-seven-wonders-experts_x.htm |archive-date=15 July 2010 |access-date=31 July 2010 |work=USA Today}}</ref> {{as of|2011|March|31}}, the estimated total number of Internet users was 2.095&nbsp;billion (30% of [[world population]]).<ref name="stats1">{{cite web|url=http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm|title=World Internet Users and Population Stats|date=22 June 2011|work=Internet World Stats|publisher=Miniwatts Marketing Group|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623200007/http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm|archive-date=23 June 2011|access-date=23 June 2011}}<!-- previous cite {{cite web|url=http://www.50x15.com/en-us/internet_usage.aspx |title=AMD 50x15 – World Internet Usage |publisher=50x15.com |access-date=6 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831063352/http://www.50x15.com/en-us/internet_usage.aspx |archive-date=31 August 2009 |df= }} --></ref> It is estimated that in 1993 the Internet carried only 1% of the information flowing through two-way [[telecommunication]]. By 2000 this figure had grown to 51%, and by 2007 more than 97% of all telecommunicated information was carried over the Internet.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The World's Technological Capacity to Store, Communicate, and Compute Information |first1=Martin |last1=Hilbert |first2=Priscila |last2=López |s2cid=206531385 |date=April 2011 |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=332 |pages=60–65 |doi=10.1126/science.1200970 |issue=6025 |bibcode=2011Sci...332...60H |pmid=21310967 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Modern [[smartphone]]s can access the Internet through cellular carrier networks, and internet usage by mobile and tablet devices exceeded desktop worldwide for the first time in October 2016.<ref>{{cite web |date=1 November 2016 |title=Mobile and Tablet Internet Usage Exceeds Desktop for First Time Worldwide |url=http://gs.statcounter.com/press/mobile-and-tablet-internet-usage-exceeds-desktop-for-first-time-worldwide |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161101170640/http://gs.statcounter.com/press/mobile-and-tablet-internet-usage-exceeds-desktop-for-first-time-worldwide |archive-date=1 November 2016 |website=StatCounter: Global Stats, Press Release |quote=StatCounter Global Stats finds that mobile and tablet devices accounted for 51.3% of Internet usage worldwide in October compared to 48.7% by desktop.}}</ref> {{as of|2018}}, 80% of the world's population were covered by a [[4G]] network.<ref name="GSMA The Mobile Economy 2019">{{Cite web |date=11 March 2019 |title=GSMA The Mobile Economy 2019 |url=https://www.gsma.com/r/mobileeconomy/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311062226/https://www.gsma.com/r/mobileeconomy/ |archive-date=11 March 2019 |access-date=28 November 2020}}</ref> 

====Mobile communication====
[[File:Number of mobile cellular subscriptions 2012-2016.svg|thumb|Number of mobile cellular subscriptions 2012–2016]] The [[International Telecommunication Union]] (ITU) estimated that, by the end of 2017, 48% of individual users regularly connect to the Internet, up from 34% in 2012.<ref>{{cite web |date=2017a |title=World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database 2020 (24th Edition/July 2020) |url=https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/wtid.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421072228/https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/publications/wtid.aspx |archive-date=21 April 2019 |website=International Telecommunication Union (ITU) |quote=Key ICT indicators for developed and developing countries and the world (totals and penetration rates). World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators database}}</ref> [[Mobile Web|Mobile Internet]] connectivity has played an important role in expanding access in recent years, especially in [[Asia–Pacific|Asia and the Pacific]] and in Africa.<ref name="UNESCO">{{Cite book |url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0026/002610/261065e.pdf |title=World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development Global Report 2017/2018 |publisher=UNESCO |year=2018 |access-date=29 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920181419/http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0026/002610/261065e.pdf |archive-date=20 September 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> The number of unique mobile cellular subscriptions increased from 3.9&nbsp;billion in 2012 to 4.8&nbsp;billion in 2016, two-thirds of the world's population, with more than half of subscriptions located in Asia and the Pacific.<ref name="GSMA The Mobile Economy 2019" /> 

The limits that users face on accessing information via mobile applications coincide with a broader process of [[Fragmentation (computing)|fragmentation of the Internet]]. Fragmentation restricts access to media content and tends to affect the poorest users the most.<ref name="UNESCO" /> One solution, [[zero-rating]], is the practice of Internet service providers allowing users free connectivity to access specific content or applications without cost.<ref name="Berkman Oct 2017">{{cite web |last1=Bates |first1=Samantha |last2=Bavitz |first2=Christopher |last3=Hessekiel |first3=Kira |date=5 October 2017 |title=Zero Rating & Internet Adoption |url=https://cyber.harvard.edu/publications/2017/10/zerorating |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208221600/https://cyber.harvard.edu/publications/2017/10/zerorating |archive-date=8 December 2017 |access-date=13 December 2017 |website=cyber.harvard.edu |publisher=[[Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society]] |language=en}}</ref>

== Social impact ==
The Internet has enabled new forms of social interaction, activities, and social associations, giving rise to the scholarly study of the [[sociology of the Internet]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Carlson |first1=Kathie |title=The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images |last2=Flanagin |first2=Michael N. |last3=Martin |first3=Kathleen |last4=Martin |first4=Mary E. |last5=Mendelsohn |first5=John |last6=Rodgers |first6=Priscilla Young |last7=Ronnberg |first7=Ami |last8=Salman |first8=Sherry |last9=Wesley |first9=Deborah A. |publisher=[[Taschen]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-8365-1448-4 |editor-last=Arm |editor-first=Karen |location=Köln |page=518 |display-authors=3 |editor-last2=Ueda |editor-first2=Kako |editor-last3=Thulin |editor-first3=Anne |editor-last4=Langerak |editor-first4=Allison |editor-last5=Kiley |editor-first5=Timothy Gus |editor-last6=Wolff |editor-first6=Mary |display-editors=3}}</ref>

=== Users ===
{{See also|Global Internet usage|English in computing|Languages used on the Internet}}
[[File:Graph depicting share of the population using the Internet.png|thumb|Share of population using the Internet.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ritchie |first1=Hannah |author1-link=Hannah Ritchie |last2=Roser |first2=Max |author2-link=Max Roser |date=2 October 2017 |title=Technology Adoption |url=https://ourworldindata.org/technology-adoption |url-status=live |journal=Our World in Data |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191012121855/https://ourworldindata.org/technology-adoption |archive-date=12 October 2019 |access-date=12 October 2019}}</ref> [[c:Data:Share of population using the Internet.tab|Source data]]. <!-- Using image for now due to logspam generated by this graph. See https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T277903. Graph can be restored when underlying issue fixed. -->]]
[[File:Internet users for 100 people by GDP per capita.svg|alt=A scatter plot showing Internet usage per capita versus GDP per capita. It shows Internet usage increasing with GDP.|thumb|Internet users per 100 population members and [[GDP]] per capita for selected countries]]
[[File:Internet users per 100 inhabitants ITU.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|<div style="text-align: center">'''Internet users per 100 inhabitants'''</div><small>Source: [[International Telecommunication Union]].</small><ref>[http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/statistics/2014/ITU_Key_2005-2014_ICT_data.xls "Individuals using the Internet 2005 to 2014"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528031339/http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/statistics/2014/ITU_Key_2005-2014_ICT_data.xls|date=28 May 2015}}, Key ICT indicators for developed and developing countries and the world (totals and penetration rates), International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Retrieved 25 May 2015.</ref><ref>[http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/ict/ "Internet users per 100 inhabitants 1997 to 2007"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517033104/http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/ict/|date=17 May 2015}}, ICT Data and Statistics (IDS), International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Retrieved 25 May 2015.</ref>]]

Between 2000 and 2009, the number of Internet users globally rose from 390&nbsp;million to 1.9&nbsp;billion.<ref>[https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/ Internet users graphs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200509175322/https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx|date=9 May 2020}}, Market Information and Statistics, International Telecommunication Union</ref> By 2010, 22% of the world's population had access to computers with 1&nbsp;billion [[Google]] searches every day, 300&nbsp;million Internet users reading blogs, and 2&nbsp;billion videos viewed daily on [[YouTube]].<ref>{{cite web |date=26 May 2011 |title=Google Earth demonstrates how technology benefits RI's civil society, govt |url=http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/71940/google-earth-demonstrates-how-technology-benefits-ris-civil-society-govt |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029074528/http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/71940/google-earth-demonstrates-how-technology-benefits-ris-civil-society-govt |archive-date=29 October 2012 |access-date=19 November 2012 |publisher=Antara News}}</ref> In 2014 the world's Internet users surpassed 3&nbsp;billion or 44 percent of world population, but two-thirds came from the richest countries, with 78 percent of Europeans using the Internet, followed by 57 percent of the Americas.<ref>{{cite web |author=Steve Dent |date=25 November 2014 |title=There are now 3 billion Internet users, mostly in rich countries |url=https://www.engadget.com/2014/11/25/3-billion-internet-users/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128020032/http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/25/3-billion-internet-users/ |archive-date=28 November 2014 |access-date=25 November 2014}}</ref> However, by 2018, Asia alone accounted for 51% of all Internet users, with 2.2&nbsp;billion out of the 4.3&nbsp;billion Internet users in the world. China's Internet users surpassed a major milestone in 2018, when the country's Internet regulatory authority, China Internet Network Information Centre, announced that China had 802&nbsp;million users.<ref>{{cite web |date=January 2018 |title=Statistical Report on Internet Development in China |url=https://cnnic.com.cn/IDR/ReportDownloads/201807/P020180711391069195909.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412062935/https://cnnic.com.cn/IDR/ReportDownloads/201807/P020180711391069195909.pdf |archive-date=12 April 2019 |website=Cnnic.com}}</ref> China was followed by India, with some 700&nbsp;million users, with the United States third with 275&nbsp;million users. 

However, in terms of penetration, in 2022, China had a 70% penetration rate compared to India's 60% and the United States's 90%.<ref>{{cite web |title=World Internet Users Statistics and 2019 World Population Stats |url=https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171124192836/http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm |archive-date=24 November 2017 |access-date=17 March 2019 |website=internetworldstats.com}}</ref> In 2022, 54% of the world's Internet users were based in Asia, 14% in Europe, 7% in North America, 10% in Latin America and the [[Caribbean]], 11% in Africa, 4% in the Middle East and 1% in Oceania.<ref name="inetstats">{{cite web |date=30 June 2023 |title=World Internet Usage Statistics News and Population Stats |url=http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319013935/http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm |archive-date=19 March 2017 |access-date=14 December 2023}}</ref><!-- Note that the use of these copyright statistics is dependent on "giving due credit and establishing an active link back to www.internetworldstats.com", so please do not remove the citation above --> In 2019, Kuwait, Qatar, the Falkland Islands, Bermuda and Iceland had the highest [[List of countries by number of Internet users|Internet penetration by the number of users]], with 93% or more of the population with access.<ref name="ITU-IndividualsUsingTheInternet">[http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/statistics/2013/Individuals_Internet_2000-2012.xls "Percentage of Individuals using the Internet 2000–2012"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209141641/http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/statistics/2013/Individuals_Internet_2000-2012.xls|date=9 February 2014}}, International Telecommunication Union (Geneva), June 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013.</ref> As of 2022, it was estimated that 5.4&nbsp;billion people use the Internet, more than two-thirds of the world's population.<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Internet Users Statistics and 2023 World Population Stats |url=https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319110853/https://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm |archive-date=Mar 19, 2024 |website=Internet World Stats}}</ref>

Early computer systems were limited to the characters in the [[ASCII|American Standard Code for Information Interchange]] (ASCII), a subset of the [[Latin alphabet]]. After English (27%), the most requested languages on the World Wide Web are Chinese (25%), Spanish (8%), Japanese (5%), Portuguese and German (4% each), Arabic, French and Russian (3% each), and Korean (2%).<ref name="NIUBL-IWS">{{cite web |date=18 March 2012 |title=Top Ten Internet Languages |url=http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats7.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426122721/http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats7.htm |archive-date=26 April 2012 |access-date=22 April 2012 |website=Internet World Stats, Miniwatts Marketing Group}}</ref><!-- Note that the use of these copyright statistics is dependent on "giving due credit and establishing an active link back to www.internetworldstats.com", so please do not remove the citation above --> Modern character encoding standards, such as [[Unicode]], allow for development and communication in the world's widely used languages. However, some glitches such as ''[[mojibake]]'' (incorrect display of some languages' characters) still remain.

Several neologisms exist that refer to Internet users: [[Netizen]] (as in "citizen of the net")<ref>{{cite book |last1=Seese |first1=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3noNR3IfSpgC&q=citizen+of+the+net&pg=PA130 |title=Scrappy Information Security |publisher=Happy About |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-60005-132-6 |page=130 |access-date=5 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905151414/https://books.google.com/books?id=3noNR3IfSpgC&pg=PA130&lpg=PA130&dq=citizen+of+the+net |archive-date=5 September 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> refers to those [[online participation|actively involved]] in improving [[virtual community|online communities]], the Internet in general or surrounding political affairs and rights such as [[Freedom of speech#The Internet and information society|free speech]],<ref>"[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/netizen netizen]", Dictionary.com. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421223939/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/netizen|date=21 April 2012}}.</ref><ref name="Hauben">{{cite web |last=Hauben |first=Michael |date=June 5, 1996 |title=The Net and Netizens |url=http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/ch106.x01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604214312/http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/ch106.x01 |archive-date=4 June 2011 |publisher=Columbia University}}</ref> [[Internaut]] refers to operators or technically highly capable users of the Internet,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Leiner |first1=B M. |last2=Cerf |first2=V G. |last3=Clark |first3=D D. |last4=Kahn |first4=R E. |last5=Kleinrock |first5=L |last6=Lynch |first6=D C. |last7=Postel |first7=J |last8=Roberts |first8=L G. |last9=Wolff |first9=S |date=10 Dec 2003 |title=A Brief History of the Internet |url=http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070604153304/http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml |archive-date=4 June 2007 |website=the Internet Society}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=internaut |url=https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/internaut |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150613002443/https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/internaut |archive-date=13 June 2015 |access-date=6 June 2015 |website=Oxford Dictionaries}}</ref> [[digital citizen]] refers to a person using the Internet in order to engage in society, politics, and government participation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mossberger |first1=Karen |title=Digital Citizenship – The Internet, Society and Participation |last2=Tolbert |first2=Caroline J. |last3=McNeal |first3=Ramona S. |publisher=SPIE Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-8194-5606-9}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="300px">
InternetUsersByLanguagePieChart.svg|<div style="text-align: center">'''[[Languages used on the Internet|Internet users by language]]'''<ref name="NIUBL-IWS" /></div>
WebsitesByLanguagePieChart.svg|<div style="text-align: center">'''[[Languages used on the Internet|Website content languages]]'''<ref name="UofCLBWApril2013">{{cite web |title=Usage of content languages for websites |url=http://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/content_language/all |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717235405/http://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/content_language/all |archive-date=17 July 2012 |access-date=26 April 2013 |work=W3Techs}}</ref></div>
</gallery>

=== Usage ===
[[File:Share_of_individuals_using_the_internet.png|thumb|360px|<div style="text-align: center">'''[[List of countries by number of Internet users|Internet users in 2021 as a percentage of a country's population]]'''</div>Source: [[Our World in Data]].]]
{{Main|Global digital divide|Digital divide}}

[[File:FixedBroadbandInternetPenetrationWorldMap.svg|thumb |360px |<div style="text-align: center">'''[[List of countries by number of broadband Internet subscriptions|Fixed broadband Internet subscriptions in 2012]]<br />as a percentage of a country's population'''</div>Source: [[International Telecommunication Union]].<ref name="FixedBroadbandITUDynamic2012">[http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ICTEYE/Reporting/DynamicReportWizard.aspx "Fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726064920/http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ICTEYE/Reporting/DynamicReportWizard.aspx|date=26 July 2019}}, Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE, [[International Telecommunication Union]]. Retrieved 29 June 2013.</ref>]]

[[File:MobileBroadbandInternetPenetrationWorldMap 2013.svg|thumb |360px |<div style="text-align: center">'''[[List of countries by number of broadband Internet subscriptions|Mobile broadband Internet subscriptions in 2012]]<br />as a percentage of a country's population'''</div>Source: [[International Telecommunication Union]].<ref name="MobleBroadbandITUDynamic2012">[http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ICTEYE/Reporting/DynamicReportWizard.aspx "Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants 2012"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726064920/http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ICTEYE/Reporting/DynamicReportWizard.aspx|date=26 July 2019}}, Dynamic Report, ITU ITC EYE, [[International Telecommunication Union]]. Retrieved 29 June 2013.</ref>]]
The Internet allows greater flexibility in working hours and location, especially with the spread of unmetered high-speed connections. The Internet can be accessed almost anywhere by numerous means, including through [[mobile Internet device]]s. Mobile phones, [[datacard]]s, [[handheld game console]]s and [[cellular router]]s allow users to connect to the Internet [[wireless]]ly.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

==== Information and education ====
Educational material at all levels from pre-school (e.g. [[CBeebies]]) to post-doctoral (e.g. scholarly literature through [[Google Scholar]]) is available on websites. The internet has facilitated the development of [[Online university|virtual universities]] and [[distance education]], enabling both [[Education|formal]] and [[informal education]]. The Internet allows researchers to conduct research remotely via virtual laboratories, with profound changes in reach and generalizability of findings as well as in communication between scientists and in the publication of results.<ref>{{cite book |last=Reips |first=U.-D. |url=http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/psychology/social-psychology/psychological-aspects-cyberspace-theory-research-applications |title=Psychological aspects of cyberspace: Theory, research, applications |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-521-69464-3 |location=Cambridge |pages=268–294 |chapter=How Internet-mediated research changes science |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140809235408/http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/psychology/social-psychology/psychological-aspects-cyberspace-theory-research-applications |archive-date=9 August 2014}}</ref> By the late 2010s the Internet had been described as "the main source of scientific information "for the majority of the global North population".<ref>{{cite book |author1=Dariusz Jemielniak |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yLDMDwAAQBAJ |title=Collaborative Society |author2=Aleksandra Przegalinska |publisher=MIT Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-262-35645-9 |access-date=26 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123045652/https://books.google.com/books?id=yLDMDwAAQBAJ |archive-date=23 November 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{Rp|111}}

[[Wiki]]s have also been used in the academic community for sharing and dissemination of information across institutional and international boundaries.<ref>{{Cite book |author1=MM Wanderley |url=http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1142215.1142259 |title=New Interfaces For Musical Expression |author2=D Birnbaum |author3=J Malloch |publisher=IRCAM – Centre Pompidou |year=2006 |isbn=978-2-84426-314-8 |page=180}}</ref> In those settings, they have been found useful for collaboration on [[grant writing]], [[strategic planning]], departmental documentation, and committee work.<ref>{{Cite journal |author=Nancy T. Lombardo |date=June 2008 |title=Putting Wikis to Work in Libraries |journal=Medical Reference Services Quarterly |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=129–145 |doi=10.1080/02763860802114223 |pmid=18844087 |s2cid=11552140}}</ref> The [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]] uses a wiki to allow the public to collaborate on finding [[prior art]] relevant to examination of pending patent applications. [[Queens]], New York has used a wiki to allow citizens to collaborate on the design and planning of a local park.<ref name="Noveck">{{cite journal |author=Noveck, Beth Simone |date=March 2007 |title=Wikipedia and the Future of Legal Education |url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/jled57&div=8&id=&page= |url-status=live |journal=Journal of Legal Education |volume=57 |issue=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703005842/http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals%2Fjled57&div=8&id=&page= |archive-date=3 July 2014}}{{subscription required}}</ref> The [[English Wikipedia]] has the largest user base among wikis on the World Wide Web<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 April 2008 |title=WikiStats by S23 |url=http://s23.org/wikistats/largest_html.php?sort=users_desc&th=8000&lines=500 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140825164715/http://s23.org/wikistats/largest_html.php?sort=users_desc&th=8000&lines=500 |archive-date=25 August 2014 |access-date=7 April 2007 |publisher=S23Wiki}}</ref> and ranks in the top 10 among all sites in terms of traffic.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alexa Web Search – Top 500 |url=http://www.alexa.com/topsites |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150302173920/http://www.alexa.com/topsites |archive-date=2 March 2015 |access-date=2 March 2015 |publisher=[[Alexa Internet]]}}</ref>

==== Entertainment ====
The Internet has been a major outlet for leisure activity since its inception, with entertaining [[social experiment]]s such as [[Multi-user dungeon|MUD]]s and [[MOO]]s being conducted on university servers, and humor-related [[Usenet]] groups receiving much traffic.<ref name="StudFiles">{{Cite web |title=Communication in our life |url=https://studfile.net/preview/2987063/ |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=StudFiles |language=ru}}</ref> Many [[Internet forums]] have sections devoted to games and funny videos.<ref name="StudFiles" /> 

Another area of leisure activity on the Internet is [[multiplayer gaming]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Spohn |first=Dave |date=15 December 2009 |title=Top Online Game Trends of the Decade |url=http://internetgames.about.com/od/gamingnews/a/trendsdecade.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929074221/http://internetgames.about.com/od/gamingnews/a/trendsdecade.htm |archive-date=29 September 2011 |website=About.com}}</ref> This form of recreation creates communities, where people of all ages and origins enjoy the fast-paced world of multiplayer games. These range from [[MMORPG]] to [[first-person shooter]]s, from [[role-playing video game]]s to [[online gambling]]. While online gaming has been around since the 1970s, modern modes of online gaming began with subscription services such as [[GameSpy Arcade|GameSpy]] and [[MPlayer.com|MPlayer]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Spohn |first=Dave |date=2 June 2011 |title=Internet Game Timeline: 1963–2004 |url=http://internetgames.about.com/od/gamingnews/a/timeline.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060425091409/http://internetgames.about.com/od/gamingnews/a/timeline.htm |archive-date=25 April 2006 |website=About.com}}</ref>

[[Streaming media]] is the real-time delivery of digital media for immediate consumption or enjoyment by end users. Streaming companies (such as [[Netflix]], [[Disney+]], Amazon's [[Amazon Prime Video|Prime Video]], [[Mubi (streaming service)|Mubi]], [[Hulu]], and [[Apple TV+]]) now dominate the entertainment industry, eclipsing traditional broadcasters.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bajarin |first=Tim |date=November 26, 2024 |title=The Future Of Media: Streaming Dominates |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/timbajarin/2024/11/26/the-future-of-media-streaming-dominance-and-the-data-revolution/ |access-date=2025-06-16 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref> Audio streamers such as [[Spotify]] and [[Apple Music]] also have significant market share in the audio entertainment market.

[[Video sharing website|Video sharing websites]] are also a major factor in the entertainment ecosystem. YouTube was founded on 15 February 2005 and is now the leading website for free streaming video with more than two billion users.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Press |url=https://www.youtube.com/about/press/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171111094352/https://www.youtube.com/yt/about/press/ |archive-date=11 November 2017 |access-date=19 August 2020 |website=YouTube}}</ref> It uses a web player to stream and show video files.<ref>{{Cite news |title=YouTube now defaults to HTML5 |url=https://youtube-eng.googleblog.com/2015/01/youtube-now-defaults-to-html5_27.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180910204225/https://youtube-eng.googleblog.com/2015/01/youtube-now-defaults-to-html5_27.html |archive-date=10 September 2018 |access-date=10 September 2018 |work=YouTube Engineering and Developers Blog |language=en-US}}</ref> [[YouTube]] users watch hundreds of millions, and upload hundreds of thousands, of videos daily. Other video sharing websites include [[Vimeo]], [[Instagram]] and [[TikTok]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

==== Pornography ====
Although many governments have attempted to restrict both [[Internet pornography]] and [[online gambling]], this has generally failed to stop their widespread popularity.<ref>{{cite web |last=Goldman |first=Russell |date=22 January 2008 |title=Do It Yourself! Amateur Porn Stars Make Bank |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Business/SmallBiz/story?id=4151592 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111230075056/https://abcnews.go.com/Business/SmallBiz/story?id=4151592 |archive-date=30 December 2011 |website=ABC News}}</ref>

A number of advertising-funded ostensible video sharing websites known as "[[tube site]]s" have been created to host shared [[pornographic video]] content. Due to laws requiring the documentation of the origin of pornography, these websites now largely operate in conjunction with pornographic movie studios and their own independent creator networks, acting as de-facto video streaming services. Major players in this field include the market leader [[Aylo]], the operator of [[PornHub]] and numerous other branded sites, as well as other independent operators such as [[xHamster]] and [[Xvideos]]. {{As of|2023}}, Internet traffic to pornographic video sites rivalled that of mainstream video streaming and sharing services.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wright |first1=Paul J. |last2=Tokunaga |first2=Robert |last3=Herbenick |first3=Debby |date=2023-07-24 |title=But Do Porn Sites Get More Traffic than TikTok, OpenAI, and Zoom? |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2023.2220690 |journal=The Journal of Sex Research |volume=60 |issue=6 |pages=763–767 |doi=10.1080/00224499.2023.2220690 |issn=0022-4499 |pmid=37273178 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==== Remote work ====
[[Remote work]] is facilitated by tools such as [[groupware]], [[virtual private networks]], [[conference calling]], [[videotelephony]], and VoIP so that work may be performed from any location, such as the worker's home.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

==== Philanthropy ====
The spread of low-cost Internet access in developing countries has opened up new possibilities for [[Social peer-to-peer processes|peer-to-peer]] charities, which allow individuals to contribute small amounts to charitable projects for other individuals. Websites, such as [[DonorsChoose]] and [[GlobalGiving]], allow small-scale donors to direct funds to individual projects of their choice. A popular twist on Internet-based philanthropy is the use of [[peer-to-peer lending]] for charitable purposes. [[Kiva (organization)|Kiva]] pioneered this concept in 2005, offering the first web-based service to publish individual loan profiles for funding.<ref>{{cite web |last=Roodman |first=David |date=2 October 2009 |title=Kiva Is Not Quite What It Seems |url=http://blogs.cgdev.org/open_book/2009/10/kiva-is-not-quite-what-it-seems.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210045011/http://blogs.cgdev.org/open_book/2009/10/kiva-is-not-quite-what-it-seems.php |archive-date=10 February 2010 |access-date=16 January 2010 |website=Center for Global Development}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Strom |first=Stephanie |date=9 November 2009 |title=Confusion on Where Money Lent via Kiva Goes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/business/global/09kiva.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129225155/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/business/global/09kiva.html |archive-date=29 January 2017 |work=The New York Times |page=6}}</ref>

=== Software ===
The low cost and nearly instantaneous sharing of ideas, knowledge, and skills have made [[collaboration|collaborative]] work dramatically easier, with the help of [[collaborative software]], which allow groups to easily form, cheaply communicate, and share ideas. An example of collaborative software is the [[free software movement]], which has produced, among other things, [[Linux]], [[Mozilla Firefox]], and [[OpenOffice.org]] (later forked into [[LibreOffice]]).{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}} [[Content management]] systems allow collaborating teams to work on shared sets of documents simultaneously without accidentally destroying each other's work.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

The internet also allows for [[cloud computing]], [[virtual private network|virtual private networks]], [[Remote Desktop Protocol|remote desktops]], and [[remote work]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

=== Psychology ===
{{Main|Cyberpsychology}}
{{See also|Social networking service#Social impact}}
The [[online disinhibition effect]] describes the tendency of many individuals to behave more stridently or offensively online than they would in person. A significant number of [[feminist]] women have been the target of various forms of [[harassment]], including insults and [[hate speech]], to, in extreme cases, rape and death [[Computer crime#Online harassment|threats]], in response to posts they have made on social media. Social media companies have been criticized in the past for not doing enough to aid victims of online abuse.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Moore |first=Keith |date=27 July 2013 |title=Twitter 'report abuse' button calls after rape threats |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23477130 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904014545/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23477130 |archive-date=4 September 2014 |access-date=7 December 2014 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>

Children also face dangers online such as [[cyberbullying]] and [[Child grooming|approaches by sexual predators]], who sometimes pose as children themselves. Due to naivety, they may also post personal information about themselves online, which could put them or their families at risk unless warned not to do so. Many parents choose to enable [[Content-control software|Internet filtering]] or supervise their children's online activities in an attempt to protect their children from [[pornography]] or [[Effects of violence in mass media|violent content]] on the Internet. The most popular social networking services commonly forbid users under the age of 13. However, these policies can be circumvented by registering an account with a false birth date, and a significant number of children aged under 13 join such sites.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}} Social networking services for younger children, which claim to provide better levels of protection for children, also exist.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kessler |first=Sarah |date=11 October 2010 |title=5 Fun and Safe Social Networks for Children |url=http://mashable.com/2010/10/11/social-networks-children/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220082237/http://mashable.com/2010/10/11/social-networks-children/ |archive-date=20 December 2014 |access-date=7 December 2014 |website=[[Mashable]]}}</ref>

Internet usage has been correlated to users' loneliness.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Carole Hughes |author2=Boston College |title=The Relationship Between Internet Use and Loneliness Among College Students |url=https://www2.bc.edu/~hughesc/abstract.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107031736/https://www2.bc.edu/~hughesc/abstract.html |archive-date=7 November 2015 |access-date=11 August 2011 |publisher=Boston College}}</ref> Lonely people tend to use the Internet as an outlet for their feelings and to share their stories with others, such as in the "[[I am lonely will anyone speak to me]]" thread.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

[[Cyberslacking]] can become a drain on corporate resources; employees spend a significant amount of time surfing the Web while at work.<ref>{{cite news |date=11 September 2003 |title=Net abuse hits small city firms |url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/net-abuse-hits-small-city-firms-1-892163 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020041820/http://www.scotsman.com/news/net-abuse-hits-small-city-firms-1-892163 |archive-date=20 October 2012 |access-date=7 August 2009 |work=The Scotsman |location=Edinburgh}}</ref> [[Internet addiction disorder]] is excessive computer use that interferes with daily life. [[Nicholas G. Carr]] believes that Internet use has other [[Psychological effects of Internet use|effects on individuals]], for instance improving skills of scan-reading and [[Interference theory|interfering]] with the deep thinking that leads to true creativity.<ref>{{cite book |last=Carr |first=Nicholas G. |author-link=Nicholas G. Carr |url=https://archive.org/details/shallowswhatinte0000carr/page/276 |title=The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains |publisher=W.W. Norton |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-393-07222-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/shallowswhatinte0000carr/page/276 276]}}</ref>

=== Business ===
{{see also|Commercialization of the Internet}}

[[Electronic business]] encompasses business processes spanning the entire [[value chain]]: purchasing, [[supply chain management]], [[marketing]], [[sales]], [[customer]] service, and business relationship. [[E-commerce]] seeks to add revenue streams using the Internet to build and enhance relationships with clients and partners. According to [[International Data Corporation]], the size of worldwide e-commerce, when global business-to-business and -consumer transactions are combined, equate to $16&nbsp;trillion in 2013. A report by Oxford Economics added those two together to estimate the total size of the [[digital economy]] at $20.4&nbsp;trillion, equivalent to roughly 13.8% of global sales.<ref>{{cite web |date=2 July 2011 |title=The New Digital Economy: How it will transform business |url=http://www.myclouddoor.com/web/documents/The%20New%20Digital%20Economy.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140706101452/http://www.myclouddoor.com/web/documents/The%20New%20Digital%20Economy.pdf |archive-date=6 July 2014 |website=Oxford Economics}}</ref>

While much has been written of the economic advantages of [[electronic commerce|Internet-enabled commerce]], there is also evidence that some aspects of the Internet such as maps and location-aware services may serve to reinforce [[economic inequality]] and the [[digital divide]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Badger, Emily |date=6 February 2013 |title=How the Internet Reinforces Inequality in the Real World |url=http://www.theatlanticcities.com/technology/2013/02/how-internet-reinforces-inequality-real-world/4602/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130211095334/http://www.theatlanticcities.com/technology/2013/02/how-internet-reinforces-inequality-real-world/4602/ |archive-date=11 February 2013 |access-date=13 February 2013 |work=The Atlantic}}</ref> Electronic commerce may be responsible for [[Consolidation (business)|consolidation]] and the decline of [[mom-and-pop]], [[brick and mortar]] businesses resulting in increases in [[income inequality]].<ref>{{cite web |date=17 January 2013 |title=E-commerce will make the shopping mall a retail wasteland |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/e-commerce-will-make-the-shopping-mall-a-retail-wasteland/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130219011301/http://www.zdnet.com/e-commerce-will-make-the-shopping-mall-a-retail-wasteland-7000009960/ |archive-date=19 February 2013 |website=ZDNet}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=23 December 2012 |title='Free Shipping Day' Promotion Spurs Late-Season Online Spending Surge, Improving Season-to-Date Growth Rate to 16 Percent vs. Year Ago |url=http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Press_Releases/2012/12/Free_Shipping_Day_Promotion_Spurs_Late-Season_Online_Spending_Surge |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128191411/http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Press_Releases/2012/12/Free_Shipping_Day_Promotion_Spurs_Late-Season_Online_Spending_Surge |archive-date=28 January 2013 |website=Comscore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=26 December 2012 |title=The Death of the American Shopping Mall |url=http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2012/12/death-american-shopping-mall/4252/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215044619/http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2012/12/death-american-shopping-mall/4252/ |archive-date=15 February 2013 |website=The Atlantic – Cities}}</ref>

A 2013 [[Institute for Local Self-Reliance]] report states that brick-and-mortar retailers employ 47 people for every $10&nbsp;million in sales, while Amazon employs only 14. Similarly, the 700-employee room rental start-up [[Airbnb]] was valued at $10&nbsp;billion in 2014, about half as much as [[Hilton Worldwide]], which employs 152,000 people. At that time, [[Uber]] employed 1,000 full-time employees and was valued at $18.2&nbsp;billion, about the same valuation as [[Avis Rent a Car]] and [[The Hertz Corporation]] combined, which together employed almost 60,000 people.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Harris |first1=Michael |date=2 January 2015 |title=Book review: 'The Internet Is Not the Answer' by Andrew Keen |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/book-review-the-internet-is-not-the-answer-by-andrew-keen/2015/01/02/8627999a-7973-11e4-9a27-6fdbc612bff8_story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120000258/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/book-review-the-internet-is-not-the-answer-by-andrew-keen/2015/01/02/8627999a-7973-11e4-9a27-6fdbc612bff8_story.html |archive-date=20 January 2015 |access-date=25 January 2015 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

[[Online advertising|Advertising]] on popular web pages can be lucrative, and e-commerce. Online advertising is a form of [[marketing]] and advertising which uses the Internet to deliver [[promotion (marketing)|promotional]] marketing messages to consumers. It includes email marketing, [[search engine marketing]] (SEM), social media marketing, many types of [[display advertising]] (including [[web banner]] advertising), and [[mobile advertising]]. In 2011, Internet advertising revenues in the United States surpassed those of [[cable television]] and nearly exceeded those of [[broadcast television]].<ref name="IAB2012">{{cite web |date=April 2013 |title=IAB Internet advertising revenue report: 2012 full year results |url=http://www.iab.net/media/file/IAB_Internet_Advertising_Revenue_Report_FY_2012_rev.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141004001439/http://www.iab.net/media/file/IAB_Internet_Advertising_Revenue_Report_FY_2012_rev.pdf |archive-date=4 October 2014 |access-date=12 June 2013 |publisher=PricewaterhouseCoopers, Internet Advertising Bureau}}</ref>{{rp|19}} Many common online advertising practices are controversial and increasingly subject to regulation.

=== Politics ===
{{See also|Internet censorship|Mass surveillance|Social media use in politics}}
[[File:Thai-coup-detat-2014-social-media-banner.jpg|thumb|right|Banner in [[Bangkok]] during the [[2014 Thai coup d'état]], informing the [[Thailand|Thai]] public that 'like' or 'share' activities on social media could result in imprisonment (observed 30 June 2014)]]
The Internet has achieved new relevance as a political tool. The presidential campaign of [[Howard Dean]] in 2004 in the United States was notable for its success in soliciting donation via the Internet. Many political groups use the Internet to achieve a new method of organizing for carrying out their mission, having given rise to [[Internet activism]].<ref name="cascading">{{cite web |date=23 February 2011 |title=The Arab Uprising's Cascading Effects |url=http://www.miller-mccune.com/politics/the-cascading-effects-of-the-arab-spring-28575/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110227051329/http://www.miller-mccune.com/politics/the-cascading-effects-of-the-arab-spring-28575/ |archive-date=27 February 2011 |access-date=27 February 2011 |publisher=Miller-mccune.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=5 July 2012 |title=The Role of the Internet in Democratic Transition: Case Study of the Arab Spring |url=http://www.etd.ceu.hu/2011/chokoshvili_davit.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120705155248/http://www.etd.ceu.hu/2011/chokoshvili_davit.pdf |archive-date=2012-07-05}}, Davit Chokoshvili, Master's Thesis, June 2011</ref> [[Social media]] websites, such as Facebook and Twitter, helped people organize the [[Arab Spring]], by helping activists organize protests, communicate grievances, and disseminate information.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kirkpatrick |first=David D. |date=9 February 2011 |title=Wired and Shrewd, Young Egyptians Guide Revolt |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/world/middleeast/10youth.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129225903/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/world/middleeast/10youth.html |archive-date=29 January 2017 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

Many have understood the Internet as an extension of the [[Jürgen Habermas|Habermasian]] notion of the ''[[public sphere]]'', observing how network communication technologies provide something like a global civic forum. However, incidents of politically motivated [[Internet censorship]] have now been recorded in many countries, including western democracies.<ref name="DeibertPalfreyRohozinski2008">{{cite book |author1=Ronald Deibert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l6ry0NeJ1N8C |title=Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering |author2=John Palfrey |author3=Rafal Rohozinski |author4=Jonathan Zittrain |publisher=MIT Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-262-29072-2 |pages=}}</ref><ref name="DiamondPlattner2012">{{cite book |author1=Larry Diamond |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xhwFEF9HD2sC |title=Liberation Technology: Social Media and the Struggle for Democracy |author2=Marc F. Plattner |publisher=JHU Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4214-0568-1 |pages=}}</ref>

[[E-government]] is the use of [[Information and communications technology|technological communications]] devices, such as the Internet, to provide [[public service]]s to citizens and other persons in a country or region. E-government offers opportunities for more direct and convenient citizen access to government<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Manoharan |first1=Aroon P. |last2=Melitski |first2=James |last3=Holzer |first3=Marc |date=2022-01-20 |title=Digital Governance: An Assessment of Performance and Best Practices |journal=Public Organization Review |language=en |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=265–283 |doi=10.1007/s11115-021-00584-8 |issn=1573-7098 |pmc=8769785}}</ref> and for government provision of services directly to citizens.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Caves |first=R. W. |title=Encyclopedia of the City |publisher=Routledge |year=2004 |page=180}}</ref>

=== Religion and terrorism ===
[[Cybersectarianism]] is a new organizational form that involves:<blockquote>highly dispersed small groups of practitioners that may remain largely anonymous within the larger social context and operate in relative secrecy, while still linked remotely to a larger network of believers who share a set of practices and texts, and often a common devotion to a particular leader. Overseas supporters provide funding and support; domestic practitioners distribute tracts, participate in acts of resistance, and share information on the internal situation with outsiders. Collectively, members and practitioners of such sects construct viable virtual communities of faith, exchanging personal testimonies and engaging in the collective study via email, online chat rooms, and web-based message boards.<ref>{{cite book |last=Thornton |first=Patricia M. |title=Chinese Society: Change, Conflict and Resistance |publisher=Routledge |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-415-56074-0 |editor1-last=Perry |editor1-first=Elizabeth |edition=2 |location=London and New York |pages=149–150 |chapter=The New Cybersects: Resistance and Repression in the Reform era |editor2-last=Selden |editor2-first=Mark}}</ref> </blockquote>In particular, the British government has raised concerns about the prospect of young British Muslims being indoctrinated into Islamic extremism by material on the Internet, being persuaded to join [[terrorist]] groups such as the so-called "[[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|Islamic State]]", and then potentially committing acts of terrorism on returning to Britain after fighting in Syria or Iraq.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

== Applications and services ==
The Internet carries many [[network service|applications and services]], most prominently the World Wide Web, including [[social media]], [[electronic mail]], [[mobile app]]lications, [[multiplayer online game]]s, [[Internet telephony]], [[file sharing]], and [[streaming media]] services. 

=== World Wide Web ===
{{Main|World Wide Web}}
[[File:First Web Server.jpg|thumb|This [[NeXT Computer]] was used by [[Tim Berners-Lee]] at [[CERN]] and became the world's first [[Web server]].]]

The World Wide Web is a global collection of [[documents]], [[Computer graphics|images]], [[multimedia]], applications, and other resources, logically interrelated by [[hyperlink]]s and referenced with [[Uniform Resource Identifier]]s (URIs), which provide a global system of named references. URIs symbolically identify services, [[web servers]], databases, and the documents and resources that they can provide.<ref name=":0" />

[[HyperText Transfer Protocol]] (HTTP) is the main access protocol of the World Wide Web. [[Web service]]s also use HTTP for communication between software systems for information transfer, sharing and exchanging business data and logistics and is one of many languages or protocols that can be used for communication on the Internet.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |date=24 June 2010 |title=The Difference Between the Internet and the World Wide Web |url=http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/Web_vs_Internet.asp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502001005/http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/Web_vs_Internet.asp |archive-date=2 May 2014 |access-date=1 May 2014 |work=Webopedia |publisher=QuinStreet Inc.}}</ref>

World Wide Web browser software, such as [[Microsoft Edge (series of web browsers)|Microsoft Edge]], [[Mozilla Firefox]], [[Opera (web browser)|Opera]], [[Apple Inc.|Apple]]'s [[Safari (web browser)|Safari]], and [[Google Chrome]], enable users to navigate from one web page to another via the hyperlinks embedded in the documents. These documents may also contain [[computer data]], including graphics, sounds, [[Plain text|text]], [[web video|video]], [[multimedia]] and interactive content. [[Dynamic web page|Client-side scripts]] can include animations, [[web game|games]], [[office applications]] and scientific demonstrations.

=== Communication ===
[[Email]] is an important communications service available via the Internet. The concept of sending electronic text messages between parties, analogous to mailing letters or memos, predates the creation of the Internet.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Brown |first=Ron |date=October 26, 1972 |title=Fax invades the mail market |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ry64sjvOmLkC&pg=PA218 |journal=New Scientist |volume=56 |issue=817 |pages=218–221}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Luckett |first=Herbert P. |date=March 1973 |title=What's News: Electronic-mail delivery gets started |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cKSqa8u3EIoC&pg=PA85 |journal=Popular Science |volume=202 |issue=3 |page=85}}</ref>

[[Internet telephony]] is a common communications service realized with the Internet. The name of the principal internetworking protocol, the [[Internet Protocol]], lends its name to [[voice over Internet Protocol]] (VoIP).{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}} VoIP systems now dominate many markets, being as easy and convenient as a traditional telephone, while having substantial cost savings, especially over long distances.<ref name="EBSCOhost">{{cite journal |last=Booth |first=C |year=2010 |title=Chapter 2: IP Phones, Software VoIP, and Integrated and Mobile VoIP |journal=Library Technology Reports |volume=46 |issue=5 |pages=11–19}}</ref>

=== File sharing ===
[[File sharing]] is the practice of transferring large amounts of data in the form of [[computer file]]s across the Internet, for example via [[file server]]s. The load of bulk downloads to many users can be eased by the use of "[[Web mirror|mirror]]" servers or [[peer-to-peer]] networks.  

Access to the file may be controlled by user [[authentication]], the transit of the file over the Internet may be obscured by [[encryption]], and money may change hands for access to the file. The price can be paid by the remote charging of funds from, for example, a credit card whose details are also passed—usually fully encrypted—across the Internet. The origin and authenticity of the file received may be checked by a [[digital signature]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Understanding Digital Signatures |url=https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/news/understanding-digital-signatures |publisher=U.S. Department of Homeland Security |date=2021 |access-date=22 October 2025}}</ref>

== Governance ==
{{Main|Internet governance}}
[[File:Icannheadquartersplayavista.jpg|thumb|ICANN headquarters in the [[Playa Vista, Los Angeles|Playa Vista]] neighborhood of [[Los Angeles]], California, United States]]

The Internet is a [[global network]] that comprises many voluntarily interconnected autonomous networks. It operates without a central governing body. 

=== IETF ===
The technical underpinning and standardization of the core protocols ([[IPv4]] and [[IPv6]]) is an activity of the [[Internet Engineering Task Force]] (IETF), a non-profit organization of loosely affiliated international participants that anyone may associate with by contributing technical expertise.<ref>{{cite IETF|title=The Tao of IETF: A Novice's Guide to Internet Engineering Task Force|rfc=4677|last1=Hoffman|first1=P.|last2=Harris|first2=S.|date=September 2006|publisher=[[Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]]}}</ref>

While the hardware components in the Internet infrastructure can often be used to support other software systems, it is the design and the standardization process of the software that characterizes the Internet and provides the foundation for its scalability and success. The responsibility for the architectural design of the Internet software systems has been assumed by the IETF.<ref>{{cite web |title=IETF Home Page |url=http://www.ietf.org/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618032558/http://www.ietf.org/ |archive-date=18 June 2009 |access-date=20 June 2009 |publisher=Ietf.org}}</ref> 

The IETF conducts standard-setting work groups, open to any individual, about the various aspects of Internet architecture. The resulting contributions and standards are published as ''[[Request for Comments]]'' (RFC) documents on the IETF web site. The principal methods of networking that enable the Internet are contained in specially designated RFCs that constitute the [[Internet Standard]]s. Other less rigorous documents are simply informative, experimental, or historical, or document the [[Best current practice|best current practices]] when implementing Internet technologies.
=== ICANN ===
To maintain interoperability, the principal [[name space]]s of the Internet are administered by the [[ICANN|Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers]] (ICANN). ICANN is governed by an international board of directors drawn from across the Internet technical, business, academic, and other non-commercial communities. The organization coordinates the assignment of unique identifiers for use on the Internet, including [[domain name]]s, [[IP address|IP addresses]], [[Port (computer networking)|application port numbers]] in the transport protocols, and many other parameters. Globally unified name spaces are essential for maintaining the global reach of the Internet. This role of ICANN distinguishes it as perhaps the only central coordinating body for the global Internet.<ref>{{cite web|last=Klein|first=Hans|year=2004|url=http://www.ip3.gatech.edu/research/KLEIN_ICANN%2BSovereignty.doc|title=ICANN and Non-Territorial Sovereignty: Government Without the Nation State|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524035251/http://www.ip3.gatech.edu/research/KLEIN_ICANN%2BSovereignty.doc|archive-date=24 May 2013|website=Internet and Public Policy Project|publisher=[[Georgia Institute of Technology]]}}</ref>

The [[National Telecommunications and Information Administration]], an agency of the [[United States Department of Commerce]], had final approval over changes to the [[DNS root zone]] until the [[Internet Assigned Numbers Authority|IANA]] stewardship transition on 1 October 2016.<ref>{{cite book |last=Packard |first=Ashley |title=Digital Media Law |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4051-8169-3 |page=65}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=McCarthy |first=Kieren |date=1 July 2005 |title=Bush administration annexes internet |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/01/bush_net_policy/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919130539/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/01/bush_net_policy/ |archive-date=19 September 2011 |website=The Register}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mueller |first=Milton L. |title=Networks and States: The Global Politics of Internet Governance |publisher=MIT Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-262-01459-5 |page=61}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=ICG Applauds Transfer of IANA Stewardship |url=https://www.ianacg.org/icg-applauds-transfer-of-iana-stewardship/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170712190131/https://www.ianacg.org/icg-applauds-transfer-of-iana-stewardship/ |archive-date=12 July 2017 |access-date=8 June 2017 |website=IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG)}}</ref> 

=== Regional internet registries ===
[[Regional Internet registry|Regional Internet registries]] (RIRs) were established for five regions of the world to assign IP address blocks and other Internet parameters to local registries, such as [[Internet service provider]]s, from a designated pool of addresses set aside for each region:{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

* The [[AfriNIC|African Network Information Center]] (AfriNIC) for [[Africa]]
* The [[American Registry for Internet Numbers]] (ARIN) for [[North America]]
* The [[APNIC|Asia–Pacific Network Information Centre]] (APNIC) for [[Asia]] and the [[Pacific region]]
* The [[Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry]] (LACNIC) for [[Latin America]] and the [[Caribbean]] region
* The [[RIPE NCC|Réseaux IP Européens – Network Coordination Centre]] (RIPE NCC) for [[Europe]], the [[Middle East]], and [[Central Asia]].

=== Other groups ===
The [[Internet Society]] (ISOC) was founded in 1992 with a mission to ''"assure the open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people throughout the world"''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/isochistory.shtml |title=Internet Society (ISOC) All About The Internet: History of the Internet |publisher=ISOC |access-date=19 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111127114016/http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/isochistory.shtml |archive-date=27 November 2011 }}</ref> Its members include individuals as well as corporations, [[organizations]], governments, and universities. Among other activities ISOC provides an administrative home for a number of less formally organized groups that are involved in developing and managing the Internet, including: the [[Internet Engineering Task Force]] (IETF), [[Internet Architecture Board]] (IAB), [[Internet Engineering Steering Group]] (IESG), [[Internet Research Task Force]] (IRTF), and [[Internet Research Steering Group]] (IRSG). 

On 16 November 2005, the United Nations-sponsored [[World Summit on the Information Society]] in [[Tunis]] established the [[Internet Governance Forum]] (IGF) to discuss Internet-related issues.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

== Infrastructure ==
{{See also|List of countries by number of Internet users|List of countries by Internet connection speeds}}
[[File:World map of submarine cables.png|thumb|2007 map showing submarine fiberoptic telecommunication cables around the world]]
The communications infrastructure of the Internet consists of its [[Computer hardware|hardware]] components and a system of [[Abstraction layer|software layers]] that control various aspects of the architecture. As with any computer network, the Internet physically consists of [[router (computing)|router]]s, media (such as cabling and radio links), repeaters, and modems. However, as an example of [[internetworking]], many of the network nodes are not necessarily Internet equipment per se. Internet packets are carried by other full-fledged networking protocols, with the Internet acting as a homogeneous networking standard, running across [[heterogeneous]] hardware, with the packets guided to their destinations by IP routers.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

=== Service tiers ===
[[File:Internet Connectivity Distribution & Core.svg|thumb|Packet routing across the Internet involves several tiers of Internet service providers.]]

[[Internet service provider]]s (ISPs) establish worldwide connectivity between individual networks at various levels of scope. At the top of the routing hierarchy are the [[tier 1 network]]s, large telecommunication companies that exchange traffic directly with each other via very high speed [[fiber-optic cable]]s and governed by [[peering]] agreements. [[Tier 2 network|Tier 2]] and lower-level networks buy [[Internet transit]] from other providers to reach at least some parties on the global Internet, though they may also engage in [[peering]]. End-users who only access the Internet when needed to perform a function or obtain information, represent the bottom of the routing hierarchy.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

An ISP may use a single upstream provider for connectivity, or implement [[multihoming]] to achieve redundancy and load balancing. [[Internet exchange point]]s are major traffic exchanges with physical connections to multiple ISPs. Large organizations, such as academic institutions, large enterprises, and governments, may perform the same function as ISPs, engaging in peering and purchasing transit on behalf of their internal networks. Research networks tend to interconnect with large subnetworks such as [[GEANT]], [[GLORIAD]], [[Internet2]], and the UK's [[national research and education network]], [[JANET]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

=== Access ===
Common methods of [[Internet access]] by users include [[broadband]] over [[coaxial cable]], [[Optical fiber|fiber optics]] or copper wires, [[Wi-Fi]], [[Satellite Internet|satellite]], and [[mobile telephony|cellular telephone]] technology.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}} [[Grassroots]] efforts have led to [[wireless community network]]s. Commercial [[Wi-Fi]] services that cover large areas are available in many cities, such as [[New York City|New York]], [[London]], [[Vienna]], [[Toronto]], [[San Francisco]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Chicago]] and [[Pittsburgh]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Pasternak |first=Sean B. |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=aQ0ZfhMa4XGQ |title=Toronto Hydro to Install Wireless Network in Downtown Toronto |publisher=Bloomberg |date=7 March 2006 |access-date=8 August 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060410104717/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=aQ0ZfhMa4XGQ |archive-date=10 April 2006 }}</ref> 

=== Data centers ===
Most [[Server (computing)|servers]] that provide internet services are today hosted in [[data center]]s, and content is often accessed through high-performance [[content delivery network]]s.

[[Colocation center]]s often host [[private peering]] connections between their customers, [[internet transit]] providers, cloud providers,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kennedy |first=Patrick |date=22 June 2021 |title=Touring the PhoenixNAP Data Center |url=https://www.servethehome.com/touring-the-phoenixnap-data-center/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Comment |first=Dan Swinhoe |date=6 October 2023 |title=The rise and rebirth of carrier hotels |url=https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/analysis/the-rise-and-rebirth-of-carrier-hotels/ |website=www.datacenterdynamics.com}}</ref> [[meet-me room]]s for connecting customers together,<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Dave Bullock |date=April 3, 2008 |title=A Lesson in Internet Anatomy: The World's Densest Meet-Me Room |url=https://www.wired.com/2008/04/gallery-one-wilshire/ |accessdate=2022-06-16 |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]}}</ref> [[Internet exchange point]]s,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Comment |first=Georgia Butler |date=13 September 2023 |title=AWASR, AMS-IX, and Alliance Networks launch Internet exchange in Oman |url=https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/awasr-ams-ix-and-alliance-networks-launch-internet-exchange-in-oman/ |website=www.datacenterdynamics.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Vincent |first=Matt |date=16 July 2024 |title=Data Center Tours: Equinix DC12, Ashburn, Virginia |url=https://www.datacenterfrontier.com/colo/article/55125540/data-center-tours-equinix-dc12-ashburn-virginia |website=Data Center Frontier}}</ref> and landing points and terminal equipment for fiber optic [[submarine communication cable]]s,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=Ars |date=26 May 2016 |title=How the Internet works: Submarine fiber, brains in jars, and coaxial cables |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/05/how-the-internet-works-submarine-cables-data-centres-last-mile/ |website=Ars Technica}}</ref> connecting the internet.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Equinix Expands Miami Data Center Key to Latin American Connectivity |url=https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/networking/equinix-expands-miami-data-center-that-s-key-to-latin-american-connectivity |website=www.datacenterknowledge.com}}</ref>

== Internet Protocol Suite ==
{{IP stack}}
The Internet standards describe a framework known as the [[Internet protocol suite]] (also called [[TCP/IP]], based on the first two components.) This is a suite of protocols that are ordered into a set of four conceptional [[Communication protocol#Layering|layers]] by the scope of their operation, originally documented in {{IETF RFC|1122}} and {{IETF RFC|1123}}:{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

* At the top is the [[application layer]], where communication is described in terms of the objects or data structures most appropriate for each application. For example, a web browser operates in a [[client–server model|client–server]] application model and exchanges information with the [[HyperText Transfer Protocol]] (HTTP) and an application-germane data structure, such as the [[HTML|HyperText Markup Language]] (HTML).{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}
* Below this top layer, the [[transport layer]] connects applications on different hosts with a [[Logic gate|logical channel]] through the network. It provides this service with a variety of possible characteristics, such as ordered, reliable delivery ([[Transmission Control Protocol|TCP]]), and an unreliable datagram service ([[User Datagram Protocol|UDP]]).{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}
* Underlying these layers are the networking technologies that interconnect networks at their borders and exchange traffic across them. The [[Internet layer]] implements the [[Internet Protocol]] (IP) which enables computers to identify and locate each other by [[IP address]] and route their traffic via intermediate transit networks.<ref name="rfc791">{{Cite IETF|rfc=791|title=Internet Protocol, DARPA Internet Program Protocol Specification|editor=[[Jon Postel|J. Postel]]|date=September 1981|publisher=[[IETF]]}} Updated by {{IETF RFC|1349|2474|6864}}</ref> The Internet Protocol layer code is independent of the type of network that it is physically running over.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}
* At the bottom of the architecture is the [[link layer]], which connects nodes on the same physical link, and contains protocols that do not require routers for traversal to other links. The protocol suite does not explicitly specify hardware methods to transfer bits, or protocols to manage such hardware, but assumes that appropriate technology is available. Examples of that technology include [[Wi-Fi]], [[Ethernet]], and [[DSL]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

[[File:UDP encapsulation.svg|thumb|As user data is processed through the protocol stack, each abstraction layer adds encapsulation information at the sending host. Data is transmitted ''over the wire'' at the link level between hosts and routers. Encapsulation is removed by the receiving host. Intermediate relays update link encapsulation at each hop, and inspect the IP layer for routing purposes.]]

===Internet protocol===
[[Image:IP stack connections.svg|thumb|Conceptual data flow in a simple network topology of two hosts (''A'' and ''B'') connected by a link between their respective routers. The application on each host executes read and write operations as if the processes were directly connected to each other by some kind of data pipe. After the establishment of this pipe, most details of the communication are hidden from each process, as the underlying principles of communication are implemented in the lower protocol layers.]]
The most prominent component of the Internet model is the Internet Protocol. IP enables internetworking, essentially establishing the Internet itself. Two versions of the Internet Protocol exist, [[IPv4]] and [[IPv6]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}} Aside from the complex array of physical connections that make up its infrastructure, the Internet is facilitated by bi- or multi-lateral commercial [[Contract|contracts]] (e.g., [[peering agreement]]s), and by technical specifications or protocols that describe the exchange of data over the network.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

====IP Addresses====
[[File:An example of theoretical DNS recursion.svg|right|thumb|A DNS resolver consults three name servers to resolve the domain name user-visible "www.wikipedia.org" to determine the IPv4 Address 207.142.131.234.]]
For locating individual computers on the network, the Internet provides [[IP address]]es. IP addresses are used by the Internet infrastructure to direct internet packets to their destinations. They consist of fixed-length numbers, which are found within the packet. IP addresses are generally assigned to equipment either automatically via [[Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol]], or are configured.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

[[Domain Name System|Domain Name Systems]] convert user-inputted [[fully qualified domain name|domain name]]s (e.g. "en.wikipedia.org") into IP addresses.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

====IPv4====
[[IPv4|Internet Protocol version 4]] (IPv4) defines an IP address as a [[32-bit]] number.<ref name="rfc791"/> IPv4 is the initial version used on the first generation of the Internet and is still in dominant use. It was designed in 1981 to address up to ≈4.3&nbsp;billion (10<sup>9</sup>) hosts. However, the explosive growth of the Internet has led to [[IPv4 address exhaustion]], which entered its final stage in 2011,<ref>{{cite web|last=Huston |first=Geoff |title=IPv4 Address Report, daily generated |url=http://www.potaroo.net/tools/ipv4/index.html |access-date=20 May 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401001902/http://www.potaroo.net/tools/ipv4/index.html |archive-date=1 April 2009 }}</ref> when the global IPv4 address allocation pool was exhausted.

====IPv6====
Because of the growth of the Internet and the [[IPv4 address exhaustion|depletion of available IPv4 addresses]], a new version of IP [[IPv6]], was developed in the mid-1990s, which provides vastly larger addressing capabilities and more efficient routing of Internet traffic. IPv6 uses 128 bits for the IP address and was standardized in 1998.<ref name=rfc1883>{{Cite IETF|rfc=1883|title=Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) Specification|author-link1=Steve Deering|author1=S. Deering|author2=R. Hinden|date=December 1995|publisher=Network Working Group}}</ref><ref name=rfc2460>{{Cite IETF|rfc=2460|title=Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) Specification|author-link1=Steve Deering|author1=S. Deering|author2=R. Hinden|publisher=Network Working Group|date=December 1998}}</ref><ref name=rfc8200>{{Cite IETF|rfc=8200|title=Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) Specification|author-link1=Steve Deering|author1=S. Deering|author2=R. Hinden|publisher=[[IETF]]|date=July 2017}}</ref> [[IPv6 deployment]] has been ongoing since the mid-2000s and is currently in growing deployment around the world, since [[Internet registry|Internet address registries]] began to urge all resource managers to plan rapid adoption and conversion.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.arin.net/knowledge/about_resources/ceo_letter.pdf |title=Notice of Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) Address Depletion |access-date=7 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107095025/https://www.arin.net/knowledge/about_resources/ceo_letter.pdf |archive-date=7 January 2010 }}</ref>

By design, IPv6 is not directly interoperable with IPv4. Instead, it establishes a parallel version of the Internet not directly accessible with IPv4 software. Thus, translation facilities exist for internetworking, and some nodes have duplicate networking software for both networks. Essentially all modern computer [[Operating system|operating systems]] support both versions of the Internet Protocol.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}} Network infrastructure, however, has been lagging in this development.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

====Subnets====
[[File:Subnetting Concept-en.svg|thumb|300px|right|Creating a subnet by dividing the host identifier]]
A [[subnet]] or subnetwork is a logical subdivision of an [[IP network]].<ref name="rfc950">{{Cite IETF|rfc=950|publisher=[[IETF]]|author1=Jeffrey Mogul|author2=Jon Postel|author-link2=Jon Postel|title=Internet Standard Subnetting Procedure|date=August 1985}} Updated by RFC 6918.</ref>{{rp|1,16}} Computers that belong to a subnet are addressed with an identical [[most-significant bit]]-group in their IP addresses. This results in the logical division of an IP address into two fields, the network number or routing prefix and the rest field or host identifier. The ''rest field'' is an identifier for a specific [[Host (network)|host]] or network interface.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

The routing prefix may be expressed in [[Classless Inter-Domain Routing]] (CIDR) notation written as the first address of a network, followed by a slash character (''/''), and ending with the bit-length of the prefix. For example, {{IPaddr|198.51.100.0|24}} is the prefix of the [[Internet Protocol version 4]] network starting at the given address, having 24 bits allocated for the network prefix, and the remaining 8 bits reserved for host addressing. Addresses in the range {{IPaddr|198.51.100.0}} to {{IPaddr|198.51.100.255}} belong to this network. The IPv6 address specification {{IPaddr|2001:db8::|32}} is a large address block with 2<sup>96</sup> addresses, having a 32-bit routing prefix.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

For IPv4, a network may also be characterized by its ''subnet mask'' or ''netmask'', which is the [[bitmask]] that when applied by a [[bitwise AND]] operation to any IP address in the network, yields the routing prefix. Subnet masks are also expressed in [[dot-decimal notation]] like an address. For example, {{IPaddr|255.255.255.0}} is the subnet mask for the prefix {{IPaddr|198.51.100.0|24}}.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

====Routing====
Computers and routers use [[routing table]]s in their operating system to forward IP packets to reach a node on a different subnetwork. Routing tables are maintained by manual configuration or automatically by [[routing protocol]]s. End-nodes typically use a [[default route]] that points toward an ISP providing transit, while ISP routers use the [[Border Gateway Protocol]] to establish the most efficient routing across the complex connections of the global Internet.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

The [[default gateway]] is the [[Node (networking)|node]] that serves as the forwarding host (router) to other networks when no other route specification matches the destination [[IP address]] of a packet.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-find-your-default-gateway-ip-address-2626072|title=How to Find Your Default Gateway IP Address|last=Fisher|first=Tim|website=[[Lifewire]]|access-date=25 February 2019|archive-date=25 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225162425/https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-find-your-default-gateway-ip-address-2626072|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.techopedia.com/definition/2184/default-gateway|title=Default Gateway|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026160616/https://www.techopedia.com/definition/2184/default-gateway|archive-date=26 October 2020|website=techopedia.com|date=30 June 2020 }}</ref>

== Security ==
{{Main|Internet security}}
Internet resources, hardware, and software components are the target of criminal or malicious attempts to gain unauthorized control to cause interruptions, commit fraud, engage in blackmail or access private information.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gralla|first=Preston|title=How the Internet Works|year=2007|publisher=Que Pub|location=Indianapolis|isbn=978-0-7897-2132-7|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/howinternetworks00gral}}</ref>

===Malware===
[[Malware]] is malicious software used and distributed via the Internet. It includes [[computer virus]]es which are copied with the help of humans, [[computer worm]]s which copy themselves automatically, software for [[denial of service attack]]s, [[ransomware]], [[botnet]]s, and [[spyware]] that reports on the activity and typing of users.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}} Usually, these activities constitute [[cybercrime]]. Defense theorists have also speculated about the possibilities of [[hackers]] using [[cyber warfare]] using similar methods on a large scale.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Andriole|first=Steve|title=Cyberwarfare Will Explode In 2020 (Because It's Cheap, Easy And Effective)|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveandriole/2020/01/14/cyberwarfare-will-explode-in-2020-because-its-cheap-easy--effective/ |date=Jan 14, 2020 |access-date=2021-05-18|website=Forbes|language=en}}</ref>

Malware poses serious problems to individuals and businesses on the Internet.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Jin-Young |last2=Bu |first2=Seok-Jun |last3=Cho |first3=Sung-Bae |date=2018-09-01 |title=Zero-day malware detection using transferred generative adversarial networks based on deep autoencoders |url=http://sclab.yonsei.ac.kr/publications/Papers/IJ/2018_IS_JYK.pdf |s2cid-access=free |via=Soft Computing Laboratory, Dept. of Computer Science, Yonsei University |journal=Information Sciences |language=en |volume=460–461 |pages=83–102 |doi=10.1016/j.ins.2018.04.092 |issn=0020-0255 |s2cid=51882216 |access-date=2 December 2021 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220430072512/http://sclab.yonsei.ac.kr/publications/Papers/IJ/2018_IS_JYK.pdf |archive-date= Apr 30, 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Razak |first1=Mohd Faizal Ab |last2=Anuar |first2=Nor Badrul |last3=Salleh |first3=Rosli |last4=Firdaus |first4=Ahmad |date=2016-11-01 |title=The rise of "malware": Bibliometric analysis of malware study |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1084804516301904 |journal=Journal of Network and Computer Applications |language=en |volume=75 |pages=58–76 |doi=10.1016/j.jnca.2016.08.022 |access-date=30 April 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref> According to [[NortonLifeLock|Symantec]]'s 2018 Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR), malware variants number has increased to 669,947,865 in 2017, which is twice as many malware variants as in 2016.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Xiao |first1=Fei |last2=Sun |first2=Yi |last3=Du |first3=Donggao |last4=Li |first4=Xuelei |last5=Luo |first5=Min |date=2020-03-21 |title=A Novel Malware Classification Method Based on Crucial Behavior |journal=Mathematical Problems in Engineering |volume=2020 |pages=1–12 |doi=10.1155/2020/6804290 |issn=1024-123X |doi-access=free}}</ref> [[Cybercrime]], which includes malware attacks as well as other crimes committed by computer, was predicted to cost the world economy US$6 trillion in 2021, and is increasing at a rate of 15% per year.<ref name="Morgan">{{cite web |last=Morgan |first=Steve |date=13 November 2020 |title=Cybercrime To Cost The World $10.5 Trillion Annually By 2025 |url=https://cybersecurityventures.com/hackerpocalypse-cybercrime-report-2016/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305072352/https://cybersecurityventures.com/hackerpocalypse-cybercrime-report-2016/ |archive-date=5 March 2022 |access-date=5 March 2022 |work=Cybercrime magazine website |publisher=Cybersecurity ventures |format= |doi=}}</ref> Since 2021, malware has been designed to target computer systems that run critical infrastructure such as the [[Electricity infrastructure|electricity distribution network]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Eder-Neuhauser |first1=Peter |last2=Zseby |first2=Tanja |last3=Fabini |first3=Joachim |date=2019-06-01 |title=Malware propagation in smart grid networks: metrics, simulation and comparison of three malware types |journal=Journal of Computer Virology and Hacking Techniques |language=en |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=109–125 |doi=10.1007/s11416-018-0325-y |issn=2263-8733 |s2cid=255164530 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Razak |first1=Mohd Faizal Ab |last2=Anuar |first2=Nor Badrul |last3=Salleh |first3=Rosli |last4=Firdaus |first4=Ahmad |date=2016-11-01 |title=The rise of "malware": Bibliometric analysis of malware study |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1084804516301904 |journal=Journal of Network and Computer Applications |volume=75 |pages=58–76 |doi=10.1016/j.jnca.2016.08.022 |issn=1084-8045|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Malware can be designed to evade antivirus software detection algorithms.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Spring |first=Tom |date=2023-06-12 |title=Obfuscation tool 'BatCloak' can evade 80% of AV engines |url=https://www.scmagazine.com/news/obfuscation-batcloak-80-percent-av-engines |access-date=2023-12-21 |website=SC Media |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Amos |first=Zac |title=How Ransomware Can Evade Antivirus Software |url=https://gca.isa.org/blog/how-ransomware-can-evade-antivirus-software |access-date=2023-12-21 |website=gca.isa.org |language=en}}</ref>

=== Surveillance ===
{{Main|Computer and network surveillance}}
{{See also|Signals intelligence|Mass surveillance}}
The vast majority of computer surveillance involves the monitoring of [[data mining|data]] and [[traffic analysis|traffic]] on the Internet.<ref name="sciam-internet">{{cite news|url=http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=internet-eavesdropping|title=Internet Eavesdropping: A Brave New World of Wiretapping|last=Diffie|first=Whitfield|author2=Susan Landau|date=August 2008|work=Scientific American|access-date=13 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081113212137/http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=internet-eavesdropping|archive-date=13 November 2008|url-status=live}}</ref> In the United States for example, under the [[Communications Assistance For Law Enforcement Act]], all phone calls and broadband Internet traffic (emails, web traffic, instant messaging, etc.) are required to be available for unimpeded real-time monitoring by Federal law enforcement agencies.<ref name="eff-calea-archive">{{cite web|url=http://w2.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/CALEA/?f=archive.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081025074518/http://w2.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/CALEA/?f=archive.html |archive-date=25 October 2008 |title=CALEA Archive|work=Electronic Frontier Foundation (website) |access-date=14 March 2009 }}</ref><ref name="eff-calea-summary">{{cite web|url=https://www.eff.org/issues/calea |title=CALEA: The Perils of Wiretapping the Internet |work=Electronic Frontier Foundation (website) |access-date=14 March 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090316041313/http://www.eff.org/issues/calea |archive-date=16 March 2009 }}</ref><ref name="eff-calea-faq">{{cite web|url=https://www.eff.org/pages/calea-faq |title=CALEA: Frequently Asked Questions |work=Electronic Frontier Foundation (website) |access-date=14 March 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501072553/http://www.eff.org/pages/calea-faq |archive-date=1 May 2009 |date=20 September 2007 }}</ref> Under the Act, all U.S. telecommunications providers are required to install [[Packet analyzer|packet sniffing]] technology to allow Federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies to intercept all of their customers' [[broadband Internet]] and VoIP traffic.<ref>{{cite web |date=9 June 2006 |title=American Council on Education vs. FCC, Decision, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit |url=http://www.baller.com/pdfs/ACE.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120907032500/http://www.baller.com/pdfs/ACE.pdf |archive-date=7 September 2012 |access-date=8 September 2013}}</ref>{{Efn|Packet capture is the monitoring of data traffic on a computer network. A packet capture appliance intercepts these packets as they are traveling through the network, in order to examine their contents using other programs. Other programs are needed to perform traffic analysis and sift through intercepted data looking for important/useful information.}}

The large amount of data gathered from packet capture requires surveillance software that filters and reports relevant information, such as the use of certain words or phrases, the access to certain types of web sites, or communicating via email or chat with certain parties.<ref name="usatoday-chatroom">{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/surveillance/2004-10-11-chatroom-surv_x.htm|title=Government funds chat room surveillance research|last=Hill|first=Michael|date=11 October 2004|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=USA Today|access-date=19 March 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100511220550/http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/surveillance/2004-10-11-chatroom-surv_x.htm|archive-date=11 May 2010}}</ref> Agencies, such as the [[Information Awareness Office]], [[NSA]], [[GCHQ]] and the [[FBI]], spend billions of dollars per year to develop, purchase, implement, and operate systems for interception and analysis of data.<ref name="zdnet-fbi">{{cite news|url=http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-151059.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407040227/http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-151059.html|title=FBI turns to broad new wiretap method|last=McCullagh|first=Declan|date=30 January 2007|work=ZDNet News|access-date=13 March 2009|archive-date=7 April 2010}}</ref> Similar systems are operated by [[Ministry of Intelligence and National Security of Iran|Iranian secret police]] to identify and suppress dissidents. The required hardware and software were allegedly installed by German [[Siemens AG]] and Finnish [[Nokia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.debka.com/article/3509/|title=First round in Internet war goes to Iranian intelligence|website=[[Debkafile]]|date=28 June 2009|url-access=subscription|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221173608/http://www.debka.com/article/3509/ |archive-date=21 December 2013}}</ref>

=== Censorship ===
{{Main|Internet censorship |Internet freedom}}
{{See also|Culture of fear|Great Firewall}}
[[File:Internet Censorship and Surveillance World Map.svg|thumb|upright=1.8|<div style="text-align: center">'''[[Internet censorship by country|Internet censorship and surveillance by country]] (2018)'''<ref name=FOTN-2018>{{cite web |title=Freedom on the Net 2018 |url=https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FOTN_2018_Final%20Booklet_11_1_2018.pdf |website=Freedom House |date=November 2018 |access-date=1 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181101192951/https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FOTN_2018_Final%20Booklet_11_1_2018.pdf |archive-date=1 November 2018 }}</ref><ref name=ONISS-Nov2011>OpenNet Initiative [http://opennet.net/research/data "Summarized global Internet filtering data spreadsheet"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110211146/http://opennet.net/research/data |date=10 January 2012 }}, 8 November 2011 and [http://opennet.net/research/profiles "Country Profiles"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826003215/http://opennet.net/research/profiles |date=26 August 2011 }}, the OpenNet Initiative is a collaborative partnership of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto; the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University; and the SecDev Group, Ottawa</ref>{{efn|name=ONIChildPornLegal|Due to legal concerns the [[OpenNet Initiative]] does not check for filtering of [[child pornography]] and because their classifications focus on technical filtering, they do not include other types of censorship.}}<ref name=RWBEnemies2014>{{cite web|url=http://12mars.rsf.org/2014-en/#slide2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312120731/http://12mars.rsf.org/2014-en/#slide2|archive-date=2014-03-12|title=Enemies of the Internet 2014: Entities at the heart of censorship and surveillance|website=Reporters Without Borders|location=Paris|date=11 March 2014}}</ref><ref name=RWBEnemies>{{cite web|url=https://12mars.rsf.org/wp-content/uploads/EN_RAPPORT_INTERNET_BD.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703221044/https://12mars.rsf.org/wp-content/uploads/EN_RAPPORT_INTERNET_BD.pdf|archive-date=2017-07-03|title=Internet Enemies|website=Reporters Without Borders|location=Paris|date=12 March 2012}}</ref></div>
<blockquote>
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-1-of-2}}
{{legend|#F9D|Pervasive}}
{{legend|#FDD|Substantial}}
{{Col-2-of-2}}
{{legend|#FFD|Selective}}
{{legend|#98FB98|Little or none}}
{{Col-end}}
<div style="text-align: center">{{legend|#e0e0e0|Unclassified / No data}}</div>
</blockquote>
]]

Some governments, such as those of [[Myanmar]], [[Iran]], [[Censorship in North Korea|North Korea]], [[Censorship in China|Mainland China]], [[Saudi Arabia]] and the [[United Arab Emirates]], restrict access to content on the Internet within their territories, especially to political and religious content, with domain name and keyword filters.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=12187|title=Access Controlled: The Shaping of Power, Rights, and Rule in Cyberspace|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604102753/http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=12187 |archive-date=4 June 2011|first1=Ronald J.|last1=Deibert|first2=John G.|last2=Palfrey|first3=Rafal|last3=Rohozinski|first4=Jonathan|last4=Zittrain|publisher=MIT Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-262-51435-4}}</ref>

In Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, major Internet service providers have voluntarily agreed to restrict access to sites listed by authorities. While this list of forbidden resources is supposed to contain only known child pornography sites, the content of the list is secret.<ref name="The Register">{{cite web|title=Finland censors anti-censorship site |work=[[The Register]] |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/18/finnish_policy_censor_activist/ |date=18 February 2008 |access-date=19 February 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220075300/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/18/finnish_policy_censor_activist/ |archive-date=20 February 2008 }}</ref> 

Many countries, including the United States, have enacted laws against the possession or distribution of certain material, such as [[child pornography]], via the Internet but do not mandate filter software. Many free or commercially available software programs, called [[content-control software]] are available to users to block offensive specific on individual computers or networks in order to limit access by children to pornographic material or depiction of violence.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

== Performance ==
As the Internet is a heterogeneous network, its physical characteristics, including, for example the [[Bit rate|data transfer rates]] of connections, vary widely. It exhibits [[Emergence#World Wide Web and the Internet|emergent phenomena]] that depend on its large-scale organization.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Albert |first1=Réka |last2=Jeong |first2=Hawoong |last3=Barabási |first3=Albert-László |s2cid=4419938 |title=Diameter of the World-Wide Web |journal=Nature |date=9 September 1999 |volume=401 |issue=6749 |pages=130–131 |doi=10.1038/43601|arxiv=cond-mat/9907038 |bibcode=1999Natur.401..130A }}</ref>

===Traffic volume===
{{Latest Global Internet traffic}}
The volume of [[Internet traffic]] is difficult to measure because no single point of measurement exists in the multi-tiered, non-hierarchical topology. Traffic data may be estimated from the aggregate volume through the peering points of the [[Tier 1 network]] providers, but traffic that stays local in large provider networks may not be accounted for.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}

=== Outages ===
An [[Internet blackout]] or outage can be caused by local signaling interruptions. Disruptions of [[submarine communications cable]]s may cause blackouts or slowdowns to large areas, such as in the [[2008 submarine cable disruption]]. Less-developed countries are more vulnerable due to the small number of high-capacity links. Land cables are also vulnerable, as in 2011 when a woman digging for scrap metal severed most connectivity for the nation of Armenia.<ref>{{cite news|work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/06/georgian-woman-cuts-web-access |title=Georgian woman cuts off web access to whole of Armenia |date=6 April 2011 |access-date=11 April 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825075603/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/06/georgian-woman-cuts-web-access |archive-date=25 August 2013 }}</ref> Internet blackouts affecting almost entire countries can be achieved by governments as a form of [[Internet censorship]], as in the blockage of the [[Internet in Egypt]], whereby approximately 93%<ref name="renesys1">{{cite web| last =Cowie| first =James| title =Egypt Leaves the Internet| publisher =Renesys| url =http://www.renesys.com/blog/2011/01/egypt-leaves-the-internet.shtml| access-date =28 January 2011| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110128080518/http://www.renesys.com/blog/2011/01/egypt-leaves-the-internet.shtml| archive-date =28 January 2011}}</ref> of networks were without access in 2011 in an attempt to stop mobilization for [[Egyptian Revolution of 2011|anti-government protests]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12306041 |work=BBC News |title=Egypt severs internet connection amid growing unrest |date=28 January 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123164134/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12306041 |archive-date=23 January 2012 }}</ref>

=== Energy use ===
Estimates of the Internet's [[electricity usage]] have been the subject of controversy, according to a 2014 peer-reviewed research paper that found claims differing by a factor of 20,000 published in the literature during the preceding decade, ranging from 0.0064 [[kilowatt hour]]s per gigabyte transferred (kWh/GB) to 136 kWh/GB.<ref name="Environmental Impact Assessment Review">{{Cite journal|last1=Coroama|first1=Vlad C.|last2=Hilty|first2=Lorenz M.|date=February 2014|title=Assessing Internet energy intensity: A review of methods and results|url=http://publicationslist.org/data/lorenz.hilty/ref-218/2014_Coroama_Hilty_Assessing_Internet_Energy_Intensity_AAM.pdf|journal=Environmental Impact Assessment Review|language=en|volume=45|pages=63–68|doi=10.1016/j.eiar.2013.12.004|bibcode=2014EIARv..45...63C |access-date=9 March 2020|archive-date=23 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923042203/http://publicationslist.org/data/lorenz.hilty/ref-218/2014_Coroama_Hilty_Assessing_Internet_Energy_Intensity_AAM.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The researchers attributed these discrepancies mainly to the year of reference (i.e. whether efficiency gains over time had been taken into account) and to whether "end devices such as [[personal computer]]s and servers are included" in the analysis.<ref name="Environmental Impact Assessment Review" />

In 2011, academic researchers estimated the overall [[energy use]]d by the Internet to be between 170 and 307 [[gigawatt|GW]], less than two percent of the energy used by humanity. This estimate included the energy needed to build, operate, and periodically replace the estimated 750&nbsp;million [[laptop]]s, a billion [[smart phone]]s and 100&nbsp;million servers worldwide as well as the energy that routers, [[cell tower]]s, [[optical switch]]es, [[Wi-Fi]] transmitters and [[cloud storage]] devices use when transmitting [[Internet traffic]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Jim|last=Giles|title=Internet responsible for 2 per cent of global energy usage|website=New Scientist|date=26 October 2011|url=http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2011/10/307-gw-the-maximum-energy-the.html |archive-date=1 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141001113334/http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2011/10/307-gw-the-maximum-energy-the.html}},</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://conferences.sigcomm.org/hotnets/2011/papers/hotnetsX-final56.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810075940/http://conferences.sigcomm.org/hotnets/2011/papers/hotnetsX-final56.pdf |archive-date=10 August 2014|first1=Barath|last1=Raghavan|first2=Justin|last2=Ma|title=Proceedings of the 10th ACM Workshop on Hot Topics in Networks |chapter=The energy and emergy of the internet |date=14 November 2011|pages=1–6|location=Cambridge, MA.|publisher=ACM SIGCOMM|doi=10.1145/2070562.2070571|isbn=978-1-4503-1059-8|s2cid=6125953}}</ref> According to a non-peer-reviewed study published in 2018 by [[The Shift Project]] (a French think tank funded by corporate sponsors), nearly 4% of global [[carbon dioxide emissions|CO<sub>2</sub> emissions]] could be attributed to global [[data transfer]] and the necessary infrastructure.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/is-netflix-bad-for-the-environment-how-streaming-video-contributes-to-climate-change/a-49556716|title=Is Netflix bad for the environment? How streaming video contributes to climate change {{!}} DW {{!}} 11.07.2019|last=Cwienk|first=Jeannette|date=11 July 2019|publisher=Deutsche Welle|language=en-GB|access-date=19 July 2019|archive-date=12 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712203905/https://www.dw.com/en/is-netflix-bad-for-the-environment-how-streaming-video-contributes-to-climate-change/a-49556716|url-status=live}}</ref> The study also said that [[Internet video|online video streaming]] alone accounted for 60% of this data transfer and therefore contributed to over 300&nbsp;million tons of CO<sub>2</sub> emission per year, and argued for new "digital sobriety" regulations restricting the use and size of video files.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theshiftproject.org/en/article/unsustainable-use-online-video/|title="Climate crisis: The Unsustainable Use of Online Video": Our new report|date=10 July 2019|website=The Shift Project|language=en-GB|access-date=19 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721144259/https://theshiftproject.org/en/article/unsustainable-use-online-video/|archive-date=21 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

== See also ==
{{portal|Internet|World}}
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Crowdfunding]]
* [[Crowdsourcing]]
* [[Cyberspace]]
* [[Darknet]]
* [[Deep web]]
* [[Hyphanet]]
* [[Internet industry jargon]]
* [[Index of Internet-related articles]]
* [[Internet metaphors]]
* [[Internet video]]
* "[[Internets]]"
* [[Outline of the Internet]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
* {{Free-content attribution
| title = World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development Global Report 2017/2018
| publisher = UNESCO
| page numbers = 202
| source =
| documentURL = http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0026/002610/261065e.pdf
| license statement url = http://www.unesco.org/ulis/cgi-bin/ulis.pl?catno=261065&set=005B0D29C5_0_12&gp=1&lin=1&ll=1
| license =
}}
* {{cite book |last1=Abbate |first1=Janet |title=Inventing the Internet |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |author-link=Janet Abbate |publisher=MIT Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-262-01172-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/inventinginterne00abba}}

== Further reading ==
* [http://www.firstmonday.org/ ''First Monday''], a peer-reviewed journal on the Internet by the University Library of the [[University of Illinois at Chicago]], {{ISSN|1396-0466}}
* [http://sonet.digital/articles/internet-explained/ ''The Internet Explained''], Vincent Zegna & Mike Pepper, Sonet Digital, November 2005, pp.&nbsp;1–7.
* {{Cite book|last=Castells|first=Manuel|title=The Rise of the Network Society|publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]]|year=2010|isbn=978-1-4051-9686-4}}
* {{citation |last=Yeo |first=ShinJoung |date=2023 |title=Behind the Search Box: Google and the Global Internet Industry |publisher=U of Illinois Press |jstor=10.5406/jj.4116455 |isbn=978-0-252-04499-1 }}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links|Internet|voy=no}}
* [https://www.internetsociety.org/ The Internet Society]
* [https://livinginternet.com/ Living Internet], Internet history and related information, including information from many creators of the Internet

{{Media culture}}
{{Semantic Web}}
{{Cloud computing}}
{{Telecommunications}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Internet| ]]
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