No question, “stop hate for profit” has put Facebook’s practices in focus. But will it effect a fundamental change? Aurora asked me for an opinion: view . ( see link)
I am not optimistic. I hope I am wrong. A wider understanding of Facebook internationally (and how surveillance capitalism works) indicates that its real vulnerability lies with powerful politicians, not popular revolt, however well intentioned.
If Facebook get the 2020 Presidential election wrong – by enabling bad actors as it did in 2016-then things may turn out differently. Then it will face emboldened enemies in Washington
What is “Surveillance Capitalism ?“
To understand what is really going with “big tech”, Professor Shoshana Zuboff is the best guide with her seminal book ” The Age of Surveillance Capitalism” . It’s a fat book and , in places, a heavy read. But worth getting. Definitely read chapter 18 (“A coup from above”) which sums up the key arguments.
The big issue of our times is what economists call “extreme asymmetries of knowledge” Put simply, big tech knows all about us and we know little about how them. And it is deliberate. Example- do you know what the Google algorithm is ? Me neither. It’s a trade secret that has a big impact on how many businesses trade. Zuboff has many more examples.
Zuboff explains her ideas well in person and has also made some good programmes such as this one
(ironically, hosted on YouTube, which is owned by that uber “surveillance capitalist” – Google)