How to Save the Internet

Nick Clegg, 2025

Understand why a global internet is splintering, how AI intensifies the struggle for power, and which reforms could restore openness, accountability, and cooperation.

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6 parts, about 19 minutes to read.

Why read it

Argues that the open internet can survive only if tech firms give up some power and democracies stop building rival national networks
Helps you weigh claims about social media harm, AI risk and digital sovereignty against what the evidence supports
Written from inside a major platform by a former politician who admits his own stake in the argument

Who it is for

Policymakers drafting rules for platforms and AI
Tech workers facing questions about content, privacy or safety
Readers torn between techlash alarm and industry reassurance

What the summary covers

A global network at a fork3 min
What the techlash gets right and wrong3 min
Why openness produces both agency and concentration3 min
AI repeats and intensifies the power paradox3 min
How digital sovereignty becomes a splinternet3 min
Accountability at home, cooperation abroad4 min

Recommended by

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A wake-up call we cannot afford to ignore
Peter FrankopanProfessor of Global History at the University of Oxford
A gripping and timely book. Nick Clegg writes with clarity, authority and urgency
Reid HoffmanCofounder of LinkedIn
A vital read

About the author

Nick CleggFormer UK Deputy Prime Minister, former Liberal Democrat leader and former President of Global Affairs at Meta
- Born 7 January 1967 in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire
- Studied Archaeology and Anthropology at Robinson College, Cambridge from 1986
- Master's degree at the College of Europe in Bruges
- Won the Sheffield Hallam seat in the 2005 general election
- Appointed Knight Bachelor in the 2018 New Year Honours
- Hired by Facebook in October 2018, promoted to president of global affairs in February 2022
- Announced in January 2025 he would leave Meta