‘don’t be evil’ by financial times journalist rana foroohar is basically a rallying cry for regulating big tech.
in an investigative, ‘follow the money’ approach, foroohar makes the argument that big tech operates much like the railway monopolies did before they were broken up in 1911, when standard oil was dismantled under the sherman antitrust act.
they deliberately use every means at their disposal to prevent users from leaving their platforms (aka the network effect), in order to monetise both users’ attention and their generated data. all of this is only possible because big tech not only provides the network but also conducts business on it.
which has serious consequences for society, politics, and individual well-being. reading her case laid these impacts bare in a way that hit close to home.
this was another book that sat on my shelf for too long – and one i regret not reading sooner.
even though it was published in 2020, it still feels eerily relevant. the core issues remain unresolved, which means the author’s arguments are as valid today as they were five years ago.
many developments since then have unfolded in line with her predictions. aside from the massive impact of AI – which she hinted at with surprising prescience – her narrative is as current as a five-year-old book on big tech can be.
unfortunately, this had a rather dampening effect on my spirits.
five years have passed without much meaningful progress in terms of user protection. innovation, meanwhile, has soared and delivered even more powerful tools that only amplified the stakes.
it feels like someone laid out a well thought-out path to resolving these matters, and the world just chose to go the other way.
i read most of it with detached bitterness. which i didn’t care for.
it made me think about the question of choice.
whether we really have it.
or not.
you don’t like the rules of a certain platform, you can leave. sure. in theory. but that choice will cost you too.
on a more positive note, foroohar’s arguments increased my appreciation for living in the EU. it seems the EU is one of the only institutions that has successfully stood up to big tech — at least so far.
hope may be in short supply, but it hasn’t disappeared entirely.
