Have the Big Tech Giants got too much power ?

[No, this not another Trump v. Twitter thread. The issues go much beyond that]

There are actually not many places left where you can safely debate this sort of topic without running the risk of being shadow banned or face other sanctions like having your *social credit score reduced.

Big Tech, that is the likes Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft have amply demonstrated that they don't shy away from using censorship, denial of services etc. to influence opinion and events also in the political arena.

These companies have inveigled themselves into this position by their monopolistic practices, systematically destroying competition and now in an incredible position to abuse the monopoly of power which they have accumulated.

Surely this cannot last. It is inevitable that they will face an increasingly hostile regulatory environment which will seek to neutralise this power they have accumulated. (Taxation, Anti Trust fines, mandatory divestment etc.)

China is actually a good example here because the "free world" (yes, that's us!) appears to be closely following where they lead and the monopolistic practices of the big tech giants such as Ant Group Co. are coming under increasingly severe scrutiny.

Don't even imagine these giants are providing all these services (even including free services) for altruistic reasons. They are dumping these services to snuff out the competition or to harvest data in order to increase their power. In other words, they are currently reaping where they have not sown.


*China - not yet practised here.

__________________
If you have difficulties with a post which contains a link to a site in one of the Swiss languages, use Google Translate or your own favourite translating browser.

Pst - you advertize Google in your siggy.

Otherwise, I agree.

Way too much power..

But .. People want convenience .. and accept the cost of the loss of their privacy.

We're not all using Threema because, well everybody else is not so we'd be lonely on there by ourselves.

Many facebook clones offering privacy have come and gone.

Until we walk away en masse this is it..

A perfect example of the power that Google has accumulated. They built have that translator from the data they harvest that others have painstakingly collected, scanning newspapers, emails, documents etc. and have successfully destroyed the alternatives like dictionary publishers etc.

People managed to walk away, decently and civilly, from "communism". I agree with what you wrote.

No ones forces you to use google, cisco, microsoft and etc... you use it because its convenient for you...



With that being said, the power its you that providing for the techs.



Blame on them its not fair... btw, theis policy and privacies things are very clear to be read.



I use google to search, but my browser is pretty much hardened against cookies and etc.



We start here saying about tech with too much power... then its better to avoid cellphones...

Well, they also know from ResearchGate papers that get stored on Google search that people tend to retain very little from digital sources compared to really published papers. And that with hard copy of documents, fraud is less possible. Teachers know.

That is the nature of a monopoly service. Nobody forces you to take a SBB train from Zürich to Bern, for example. But trying to organise your own would be next to impossible. What protects you from massive exploitation when you buy such a train ticket, though, is the regulatory environment. Exactly that is ineffective in your dealings with Big Tech.

I think tech companies will continue to have power over people as long as people do not bother to question what kind of power it has over them. I see a LOT of people using Facebook, etc. without ever questioning how it's designed to affect and manipulate them psychologically and program their behavior. And then of course, when you do talk about it, most people just get angry and defensive about it, because they're addicted and don't want to admit they're being manipulated.

I think they got protection they did not deserve: publishers. They aren't.

It's like barging in private talks and saying people can only 'vous-voyer'.

Are we reading the English Forum via an app downloaded from Google Play? No, for better or worse this forum is based on a technology before Web 2.0 (wordpress, blogger, FB) and closed-ecosystem apps.

There was a time when I cared about things that I told other people to not use apps, there's a general purpose tool called the web browser. You don't need Apple to take care of you. People more intelligent than me replied as droids no virus in iPhones, literally surrendered freedom for apparent safety and less clicks. Just for context, I'm not crazy enough to install the TOR Browser, but I use Firefox and cheap androids.

Same situation with Chrome, don't use it. Take power away from that giant. I was worried about the Google Pixel and the Amazon Fire phones. Luckily both phones were flops.

Also for context, about a year ago we had Trump Vs Huawei. So, nothing new under the clouds

No. Big Tech don't have too much power. They've got exactly as much power as the governments allow.

If governments don't like it, they can legislate. E.g. make FB, Twatter etc. as accountable as print newspapers. Here's what a British marxist thinks... https://www.spiked-online.com/podcas...can-democracy/

I do find it funny that Parler has been removed from the Play Store and the Apple on line app store. And that Amazon are terminating Parler's contract for server space. Funny though - these right wing yanks prefer that private companies have the decision of life and death, not their government. On the other hand their freedom of speech? Oh, they want their government to have that right.

__________________
Down with racism. Long live miscegenation!

Tech is neutral, neither benevolent or malevolent, it is as strong as the power WE give it.
Remember when Ma Bell (Bell systems) was broken up into baby Bells after violating the Sherman act? I wonder if Google and Amazon and Facebook and all the other mega corps will share the same fate?

I would say that, from financial point of view, for me that invests in their stocks, it would be profitable to have them grow and leave intact as is.

However, from moral and pragmatic point of view, giving too much autonomy to everyone is dangerous in the long run.

Therefore, I won’t struggle with new rules of regulations, if they ever apply, and support what is good for the planet’s well being.

I'm seeing loads of people I know online saying that they are cancelling WhatsApp and fed up with FB, google etc.. .

Just saw this and stole it ..


Welcome to the Future!!!
Ordering a Pizza in 2022
CALLER:
Is this Pizza Hut?
GOOGLE:
No sir, it's Google Pizza.
CALLER:
I must have dialed a wrong number, sorry.
GOOGLE:
No sir, Google bought Pizza Hut last month.
CALLER:
OK. I would like to order a pizza.
GOOGLE:
Do you want your usual, sir?
CALLER:
My usual? You know me?
GOOGLE:
According to our caller ID data sheet, the last 12 times you called you ordered an extra-large pizza with three cheeses, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms and meatballs on a thick crust.
CALLER:
Super! That’s what I’ll have.
GOOGLE:
May I suggest that this time you order a pizza with ricotta, arugula, sun-dried tomatoes and olives on a whole wheat gluten-free thin crust?
CALLER:
What? I don’t want a vegetarian pizza!
GOOGLE:
Your cholesterol is not good, sir.
CALLER:
How the hell do you know that?
GOOGLE:
Well, we cross-referenced your home phone number with your medical records. We have the result of your blood tests for the last 7 years.
CALLER:
Okay, but I do not want your rotten vegetarian pizza! I already take medication for my cholesterol.
GOOGLE:
Excuse me sir, but you have not taken your medication regularly. According to our database, you purchased only a box of 30 cholesterol tablets once at Lloyds Pharmacy, 4 months ago.
CALLER:
I bought more from another Pharmacy.
GOOGLE:
That doesn’t show on your credit card statement.
CALLER:
I paid in cash.
GOOGLE:
But you did not withdraw enough cash according to your bank statement.
CALLER:
I have other sources of cash.
GOOGLE:
That doesn’t show on your latest tax returns, unless you bought them using an undeclared income source, which is against the law!
CALLER:
WHAT THE HELL!
GOOGLE:
I'm sorry sir, we use such information only with the sole intention of helping you.
CALLER:
Enough already! I'm sick to death of Google, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and all the others. I'm going to an island without the internet, TV, where there is no phone service and no one to watch me or spy on me.
GOOGLE:
I understand sir, but you need to renew your passport first. It expired 6 weeks ago...

Power is one thing... when will the big tech companies be properly taxed on their income ?

And I havent bought a pizza since I got a very good recipe from an intern from Puglia, back in 2003. Been making my own since then

I do as well. They're going to Telegram or Signal.

On their iPhones or Android phones. So giving everything to either Apple or Google.

It's really simple. If you don't want it public, don't post it online. And NEVER take intimate photos in any medium.

The mass surveillance via our personal assistants (i.e. smartphones) bothers me. I have almost no apps, certainly zero social apps as I access all social media only via hardened browser (containerized to keep zero cross-connection between web) and I don't use any phone I don't have root access to it, period. Recently I was really disappointed as I had to resell new Huawei P40 as they suddenly decided not to give OEM unlock codes anymore I really liked ubuntu touch project but LineageOS seems fine enough for me.

I think the tech companies may have ensured their own decline with their actions over the last few years. Playing judge, jury and executioner, and now trying to block what rivals are doing will ultimately prove to be the demise. The information age has proven that companies can fall as far as they rise.

The tech is almost there, and as soon as there is a social networking site that uses blockchain, that is decentralized, encrypted and can't be shut down, then many users will make the jump. Social media will just become a toilet cubical wall where anyone and everyone can write what they want without moderation and without fear of being cancelled.

Why would that use blockchain?