Mozilla envisions a future where the internet is a truly global public resource that is open, accessible, and safe for all. An internet that benefits people using online services, prioritizes the right to privacy, and enables economic dynamism. Our commitment to this vision stems from Mozilla’s foundational belief that the internet was built by people, for people and that its future should not be dictated by a few powerful organizations.
When technology is developed solely for profit, it risks causing real harm to people. True choice and control for Americans can only be achieved through a competitive ecosystem with a range of services and providers that foster innovation. However, today’s internet is far from this ideal state, and without action, is only set to become increasingly consolidated in the age of AI.
Today, Mozilla is setting out our 2025 – 2026 Policy Vision for the United States as we look to a new administration and a new congress. Our policy vision is anchored in our guiding principles for a healthy internet, and outlines policy priorities that we believe should be the ‘north star’ for U.S. policymakers and regulators. Some recommendations are long overdue, while others seek to ensure the development of a healthy and competitive internet moving forward.
Here’s how we can work together to make this happen.
Priority 1: Openness, Competition, and Accountability in AI
Promoting open source policies and approaches in AI has the potential not just to create technology that benefits individuals, but also to make AI systems safer and more transparent. Open approaches and public investment can spur increased research and development, create products that are more accessible and less vulnerable to cyberattacks, and help to catalyze investment, job creation, and a more competitive ecosystem. Mozilla’s key recommendations include:
- Increase government use of, and support for, open-source AI. The U.S. federal government procures billions of dollars of software every year. The government should use these resources to promote and leverage open source AI when possible, to drive growth and innovation.
- Develop and fund public AI infrastructure. Supporting initiatives like the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) and the Department of Energy’s FASST program is crucial for developing public AI infrastructure that provides researchers and universities with access to AI tools, fosters innovation and ensures benefits for all.
- Grow the AI talent ecosystem. It is critical that America invests in education programs to grow the domestic AI talent ecosystem. Without this talent, America will face serious difficulties competing globally.
- Provide access to AI-related resource consumption data. At its current growth trajectory, AI could end up consuming tremendous amounts of natural resources. The government should work with the AI industry (from semiconductor developers to cloud providers to model deployers) to provide open access to resource consumption data and increase industry transparency; this can help to prevent expensive and dangerous grid failures and could lead to lower energy prices for consumers.
- Clarify a federal position on open source AI export controls that maintains an open door for innovation. By affirming a federal position on open source AI export controls to reflect those of NTIA, and emphasizing the benefits of open models, the administration can spur further advancement in the field.
Priority 2: Protecting Online Privacy and Ensuring Accountability
Today’s internet economy is powered by people’s information. While this data can deliver massive innovation and new services, it can also put consumers and trust at risk. Unchecked collection and opaque practices can leave people susceptible to deceptive and invasive practices, and discrimination online. The rise of generative AI makes the issue of online privacy more urgent than ever.
Mozilla believes that privacy and innovation can coexist. With action and collaboration, policymakers can shift the internet economy toward one that prioritizes users’ rights, transparency, and trust — where privacy is not a privilege but a guarantee for all. We recommend that policymakers:
- Pass strong comprehensive federal privacy legislation and support state efforts. Congress must enact a sufficiently strong comprehensive federal privacy law that addresses AI-specific privacy protections, upholds data minimization, ensures the security protections that encryption provides, and covers children and adults, setting a high bar for meaningful protections. This is how Congress can create an environment where people can truly benefit from the technologies they rely on without paying the premium of exploitation of their personal data. States should also move to enact strong laws to fill the gap and protect their constituents.
- Support the adoption of privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs). This includes funding NIST and the National Science Foundation to advance fundamental and applied research, while establishing strong privacy protections that incentivize companies to prioritize PETs. The global standards development and consensus process is essential for privacy preserving technologies to develop in a sustainable manner, in particular around areas like advertising. Legislation can also incentivize companies to adopt more privacy-preserving business practices, ultimately benefiting users and supporting their right to privacy online.
- Provide necessary resources and tools to data privacy regulators. Congress and the administration must enable and empower relevant federal regulators by providing additional resources and authorizations to facilitate privacy-related investigations and enforcement. Efforts should, in particular, target data brokers who traffic sensitive data.
- Support critical independent research. Policymakers should ensure meaningful access to important data from major platforms for academia and civil society, enabling better research into big tech’s harms and stronger accountability. Transparency efforts like the bipartisan Platform Accountability and Transparency Act (PATA) are essential to advancing transparency while protecting public-interest research. Expanding such legislation to include AI platforms and model providers is critical to addressing privacy-related harms and ensuring accountability in the evolving digital landscape.
- Respect browser opt-out signals. We encourage lawmakers at the state and federal level to support key privacy tools, like the Global Privacy Control (GPC) that Firefox uses. Mozilla supports bills like California’s AB 566, which would require browsers and mobile operating systems to include an opt-out setting. We encourage lawmakers at the state and federal level to advance this key privacy tool in law and meet the expectations that consumers rightly have about treatment of their personal information.
Priority 3: Increasing Choice for Consumers
Real choice and control for consumers require an open, fair, and competitive ecosystem where diverse services and providers can thrive.
Updated competition laws – and an understanding of the importance of competition at every layer of the ecosystem – are essential for the internet to be private, secure, interoperable, open, transparent, and to balance commercial profit with public benefit. Mozilla is committed to this future. To achieve this, we must advance the below.
- Update antitrust legislation to address anti-competitive business practices, such as harmful self-preferencing, that stymie innovation and limit consumer choice. Congress must pass antitrust legislation that addresses these practices and provides the necessary resources, expertise, and authority to relevant regulatory agencies.
- Tackle harmful design practices. Harmful deceptive design practices not only manifest at the interface level, but also deeper at the operating system level – particularly in cases of vertical integration of services and features. Deploying manipulative, coercive, and deceptive tactics such as aggressive and misleading prompts, messages, and pop-ups risk overriding user choice entirely. Policymakers must hold bad actors accountable.
- Foster competition across the ecosystem. Independent browser and browser engine developers, like Mozilla, have a long history of innovating and offering privacy- and security-conscious users a meaningful alternative to big tech browser engines. Policymakers should recognize the importance of independent browsers and browser engines in maintaining a safe, open, and interoperable web that provides meaningful choice.
So what is the path forward?
We see our vision as a roadmap to a healthier internet. We recognize that achieving this vision means engaging with legislators, regulators, and the wider policy community. Mozilla remains committed to our mission to ensure the internet is a space for innovation, transparency, and openness for all.
Read our Vision for the United States: 2025 – 2026 for a more comprehensive look at our priorities and recommendations to protect the future of the internet.
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