Podcast Summary: How to Save the Internet

Podcast: LSE: Public Lectures and Events
Host: London School of Economics and Political Science
Date: October 8, 2025
Guest: Sir Nick Clegg

Overview

This episode features a thought-provoking conversation between Nick Clegg—former Deputy Prime Minister of the UK and ex-President of Global Affairs at Meta—and Larry Kramer, President and Vice Chancellor of LSE. Clegg discusses his new book, How to Save the Internet, which examines the growing fragmentation of the internet (“the splinternet”), the tension between technological globalization and political deglobalization, and his nuanced perspective on how to preserve a free, open, and global internet while addressing rising calls for regulation, safety, and sovereignty.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Book’s Core Thesis: Fragmentation & the Splinternet

• Clegg’s Unique Perspective: Having held senior roles in both European politics and Silicon Valley, Clegg offers insider insights into both spheres. He noticed a growing “incremental fragmentation of the online world” during his time at Meta.
• Rise of the ‘Splinternet’: The internet is increasingly being carved into regional or national zones due to geopolitical, regulatory, cultural, and technical factors.
  • Quote: “This constant incremental fragmentation of the online world and what’s sometimes called the move toward a sort of splinternet…” (05:12)
• Mismatch between Platform Culture and Global Presence:
  • Meta is “extraordinarily American in outlook,” yet over 90% of its users are outside the U.S. (06:18)
• Urgency for Action: Without a “deliberate act of political decision making amongst the major techno-democracies” (particularly the US, India, and Europe), the seamless, global internet will become “balkanized,” impeding communication and innovation. (07:50)
• Analogy: Like the “slow boiling frog”: fragmentation is a gradual process, only noticed when it’s too late.

Key Quote

“I think it [the internet] can die through neglect… In an age of AI and particularly in an age of political deglobalization, [it] needs this deliberate act of political decision making amongst the major techno democracies.” —Nick Clegg (09:32)

2. Critique & Defense: Is the Book Just Meta Apologism?

• Host Challenges Perception: The British media labeled Clegg’s book a “defense of Meta.”
• Clegg’s Response:
  • The book is not about Meta—it addresses broader issues of internet governance and fragmentation.
  • Clegg unapologetically supports openness and global connectivity:

    “I am an unapologetic sort of old-fashioned liberal who believes that if you empower people to express themselves…it is a good thing. And I think social media has emancipated self expression on a vast, vast scale.” (15:02)

  • Acknowledges both benefits and downsides of social media, pushing back against “moral panics” and “techno-determinism”:

    “It is highly fashionable and…lucrative…to say it’s all the fault of technology and algorithms. I think there’s a lot that is wrong with them…but I just don’t believe there is any evidence…that technology is the primary cause of society’s ills.” (18:44)

3. Social Media, Regulation & Democracy

• On Social Media’s Harm:

  • Clegg doesn’t deny negative impacts but questions the extent of causation often ascribed to tech.

  “There is an over-ascription…to those technological factors a whole bunch of wider forces that can drive, whether it’s political behavior, whether it’s the shifts in adolescent mental health.” (21:24)

• On Regulation:

  • Opposes a country-by-country patchwork, which would fuel fragmentation.
  • Calls for coordinated, internationally coherent legislation, especially around content moderation, age verification, and election ads.
  • Suggests age-verification should happen at app store level, enforced across the industry (25:18).
    • Quote: “You work with [the app stores], basically mandate them to ensure that at the point at which the app is downloaded, there is age verification…” (25:52)

4. The Misinformation Conundrum

• Why It’s Hard to Police Misinformation:
  • Misinformation is rarely illegal and often tied to free expression.
  • There is little social consensus about what qualifies as misinformation.

“One of the basic tenets of a free society is to talk rubbish…How on earth do you police that?” (28:29) - Example: The Biden administration’s push to remove vaccine-related satire during COVID, which Clegg resisted as overreach (30:40).

5. Section 230, Liability, and the AI Shift

• Section 230’s Impending Collapse:
  • As AI-generated content grows, platforms become less like “passive” pipes and more like content creators/distributors, making Section 230 protections less defensible.

  “How on earth can the platforms then claim they’ve got Section 230 protection because…they’re recommending content…sometimes generated synthetically…and peppering it at you?” (35:04)

6. Surveillance Capitalism & the Ad Model

• Ads Are “Mostly Rubbish”:
  • Clegg downplays the power and sophistication of targeted ads, critiques Shoshana Zuboff’s “surveillance capitalism” theory, and notes users have significant control over ads they see.

  “The ads I see on Facebook, I think, are pretty rubbish… Quite often they’re not well targeted at all.” (38:25)

• Automation and AI’s Role:
  • The future of ads will be even more automated with AI—but current commercial incentives favor “bland” content, not polarizing or illicit material.

7. Tech’s Relationship with Politics: The Trump Turnabout

• Tech Bros and Trump:
  • Clegg criticizes Silicon Valley’s “herd-like” swing toward the Trump administration, calling for a more principled arm’s-length approach to politics.

  “There’s only one thing worse than having businesses and governments at each other’s throats: it’s having them in each other’s pockets.” (45:37)

  • Criticizes Democrats for failing to maintain tech sector support. (46:53)

8. US-China Tech Rivalry and AI Geopolitics

• Can the US “Win” AI?:
  • Clegg asserts the US cannot “beat” China in AI supremacy due to China’s expertise, data access, and willingness to open-source AI models.
  • Predicts the US must learn to partner with India, Europe, and others, moving from unilateralism to multilateralism.

  “They can’t win. They can contest, they can rival, they can compete… but you’re not going to win.” (50:54)

9. The UK’s Higher Education Crisis

• Clegg Reflects on Tuition Fee Controversy:
  • Argues the decision to raise fees exempted universities from austerity—a “big choice”—but leaders failed to publicly defend it.
  • Urges current leaders to choose how to properly fund higher education, rather than evading the issue.

  “To govern is to choose and it’s often to choose between a lot of very unpleasant, invidious choices… But you have to choose.” (54:00)

Audience Q&A Highlights

UK Electoral Reform & Multi-party Politics

• On “First-Past-the-Post”:
  • Clegg doubts the current UK electoral system will change without a deliberate act of Parliament. Predicts increasing multi-party chaos and that only a truly dysfunctional election outcome may create enough pressure for reform.

  “If the vote gets distributed like that, you’re just going to get this winner-takes-all effect… It’s going to be like Russian roulette…” (68:30)

On Regulating Big Tech, the DSA, Dis/Misinformation

• Concrete Solutions:
  • Advocates for coordinated regulation among major democracies, particularly regarding AI guardrails, data usage, and transparency, to avoid fragmentation.

Tech Power vs. State Power (Croatia Example)

• On Government Censorship & Content Moderation:
  • Clegg says platforms often resist authoritarian demands but face dilemma: blocking government overreach can lead to countries banning platforms outright, thus depriving all citizens of digital speech.

  “… You’re dealing with very conflicting priorities here… people have huge misgivings about the unelected and unaccountable power of these platforms. But…they want those powers to be deployed against, you know, democratic governments.” (68:50)

Digital Sovereignty and Overreliance on US Tech

• UK & Europe Need More Sovereignty:
  • Clegg warns of UK’s “uncritical over reliance on American tech,” arguing this now threatens national sovereignty. He advocates for more self-sufficiency—pointing to how Europe innovates but loses both inventions and talent to the US.

  “At some point we’ve got to… learn to stand on our own two feet more.” (63:10)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “The internet is a magical thing… but I think it can die through neglect.” —Nick Clegg (09:10)
• “I am an unapologetic globalist… I think that connecting people across jurisdictions and cultures is generally a good thing to do.” —Nick Clegg (13:16)
• “[Surveillance capitalism] totally misunderstands… the commercial incentive on the platforms is to do the opposite of what they’re constantly alleged to do.” —Nick Clegg (39:10)
• “If you empower people to express themselves without having to seek permission… it is a good thing.” —Nick Clegg (15:12)
• “There’s only one thing worse than businesses and governments at each other’s throats; it’s having them in each other’s pockets.” —Nick Clegg (45:37)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction & Clegg’s Background: 00:17–04:05
• Book Thesis & Internet Fragmentation: 04:24–11:49
• Defending Openness, Critique Response: 11:49–20:07
• Social Media, Regulation & Harms: 20:07–27:36
• Misinformation Dilemma: 27:40–33:15
• Section 230 & Liability: 33:47–37:25
• Surveillance Capitalism and Ad Business Model: 37:25–42:10
• Tech, Trump, and Political Dynamics: 42:10–48:08
• US-China AI Competition: 48:32–51:42
• UK Higher Education Reflections: 51:53–57:37
• Audience Q&A: 57:50–75:05

Conclusion

Nick Clegg’s conversation at LSE offers a balanced, insider view on the challenges facing the global internet: the risk of fragmentation, the need for regulatory coherence, and the tension between openness and safety. His defense of connectivity as a net good is matched by thoughtful acknowledgments of tech’s real harms and an insistence on nuanced, evidence-based regulation. The episode provides rich context for anyone interested in the intersection of technology, politics, and society as the digital world faces a decade of profound change.