With just a few multinational tech firms lording over most of the twenty-first-century economy, it is safe to say that the digital revolution's emancipatory potential has been squandered – at least for now. But in charting a new course forward, it is critical that policymakers in Europe and elsewhere focus on the real problem, which is not technology but rather the Big Tech business model.
STANFORD – The backlash against Big Tech follows years of hype no less superficial than that accompanying the arrival of the Internet, mobile phones, and social media. Promises that technology would allow democracy to “go viral” have not been borne out; and often, the opposite has happened. Many in Europe and elsewhere are now demanding a forceful response by regulators and policymakers. But fixing the problems that we have come to associate with today’s technologies requires that we focus our attention in the right place. Digital technology is not the problem; the business models behind it are.
STANFORD – The backlash against Big Tech follows years of hype no less superficial than that accompanying the arrival of the Internet, mobile phones, and social media. Promises that technology would allow democracy to “go viral” have not been borne out; and often, the opposite has happened. Many in Europe and elsewhere are now demanding a forceful response by regulators and policymakers. But fixing the problems that we have come to associate with today’s technologies requires that we focus our attention in the right place. Digital technology is not the problem; the business models behind it are.