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EleonoreVaraleSecondEssay 4 - 10 Jan 2022 - Main.EleonoreVarale
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| | | In this regard, the evolution in authoritarian states is very interesting; at the beginning of the Internet era, governments in these states have feared internet platforms and adopted a strategy of information scarcity by censoring content and blocking access. Then, they realized that these technologies could offer a great potential to control and influence their population and started taking advantage of all the information and data collected on their citizens to consolidate their power and social control (ex: China). In other words, if layer-7 companies have disrupted political economies, the power to control them still lies in the hands of states. | |
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< | Insofar, the comparison between powerful tech companies from today and oil multinationals in the past is interesting (see: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/31/technology/big-oil-faded-will-big-tech.html). Indeed, in both cases, we deal with a model in which big companies rule the economy and the stock market, influence anti-trust law, and have an impact on public opinion (big oil firms like Exxon had an impact on climate change views like tech companies influence political opinions of voters on today’s platforms). In this model, states cooperate with these private empires, visible with business interests of oil companies that determine foreign policy and diplomacy in the Middle East or with the collaboration between governments and tech in the pandemic context (see: https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/treading-the-unusual-alliance-between-big-tech-and-the-government-post-covid-19-74472/) | >
> | Insofar, the comparison between powerful tech companies from today and oil multinationals in the past is interesting (see: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/31/technology/big-oil-faded-will-big-tech.html). Indeed, in both cases, we deal with a model in which big companies rule the economy and the stock market, influence anti-trust law, and have an impact on public opinion (big oil firms like Exxon had an impact on climate change views like tech companies influence political opinions of voters on today’s platforms). In this model, states cooperate with the private empires, e.g. business interests of oil companies determine foreign policy and diplomacy in the Middle East or the collaboration between governments and tech in the pandemic context (see: https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/treading-the-unusual-alliance-between-big-tech-and-the-government-post-covid-19-74472/) | | | | |
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< | Why Regulation is not the Solution and what are the Alternatives | >
> | Why regulation is not the solution and what are the alternatives | | |
For a few years now, political actors in democracies have been trying to legally frame layer-7 companies, especially the European Union first with the GDPR, and now the DSA as well as the DMA. Though the political intentions go in the right direction, to better protect the right to privacy and to fight against manipulation and hate speech online, (over)regulation does not seem to achieve this end. Indeed, the solution proposed has simply the effect of moving the hegemony from the private sector (the tech companies) to the public sector (the executive and judiciary powers) to a certain extent. Anyhow, it still favors a centralized system with opaque software; yet having one entity in possession of user’s data, be it public or private, cannot be the solution. | |
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< | Instead, platforms that rely on a free and open-source software and a decentralized governance should be promoted and implemented. Only that way can we ensure that user data remains truly private and can we prevent users from being manipulated by sponsored and targeted political content. These alternatives have existed for a few years now, like Diaspora, MeWe? or Mastodon, three platforms that use an open-source software and that propose to join or create your own pods. Yet, the deployment of these solutions is not preferred by governments that see this as an obstacle, since it would become much more complicated for them to extract specific data when needed (in criminal matters for example) if data privacy is really respected and if tech actors become fragmented. Therefore, it seems that only one option remains: support from society of these alternatives and mass education (from an early age). | >
> | Instead, platforms that rely on a free and open-source software and a decentralized governance should be promoted and implemented. Only that way can we ensure that user data remains truly private and can we prevent users from being manipulated by sponsored and targeted political content. These alternatives have existed for a few years now, like Diaspora, MeWe? or Mastodon, three platforms that use an open-source software and that propose to join or create pods (small communities of people who share similar interests). Yet, the deployment of these solutions is not preferred by governments. Since it would become much more complicated for them to extract specific data when needed (in criminal matters for example) if data privacy is really respected and if tech actors become fragmented, they are not pushing for this alternative path. This leaves only one option: society-rooted activism and mass education (from an early age). | | |
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