Law in the Internet Society

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AlexandraWeissfischFirstEssay 3 - 06 Jan 2022 - Main.AlexandraWeissfisch
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 Bombarded with marketing for services that could digitally connect us with other people, allow us to share information with the click of a button, listen to all kinds of music, store photos online, we became receptive to these services. More than that, we became reliant on them.
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As the Big Tech companies providing these services have continued to grow and become more powerful, censorship has become an ever-important problem. In exchange for receiving these free services, Big Tech companies have quietly and carefully been collecting data that most of us did not even realize was collectable. And they have been using our data in ways that we could not even conceive. Tech companies have used censorship as a tool to change our behavior and increase engagement with their services.
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As the Big Tech companies providing these services have continued to grow and become more powerful, censorship has become an ever-important problem. In exchange for receiving these free services, Big Tech companies have quietly and carefully been collecting data that most of us did not even realize was collectable. And they have been using our data in ways that we could not even conceive. Tech companies have used censorship as a tool to change our behavior and increase engagement with their services.
 
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But the exterior shell of Big Tech is starting to wither away. And people are becoming increasingly uneasy with what that they are seeing. In the past few years, we have seen an explosion of pushback against Big Tech practices on several levels. On the political front, calls for increased regulation have risen dramatically. And after forty years of allowing unrestricted growth of Big Tech, lawmakers have started to respond. Last year, CEOS of Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon testified before Congress on antitrust concerns. The Justice Department has since filed an antitrust suit against Google. While we have yet to see if anything substantial results from these efforts, it is one step forward. On the cultural front we have seen increasing numbers of articles, tv-shows, movies, taking on negative perspectives of Big Tech, attempting to expose the truth behind their practices. And on a more practical and actionable front, we see that an increasing number of users are taking steps to free themselves (somewhat) from the hold of Big Tech, for example through Adblock and VPN use.
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But the exterior shell of Big Tech is starting to wither away. And people are becoming increasingly uneasy with what that they are seeing. In the past few years, we have seen an explosion of pushback against Big Tech practices on several levels. On the political front, calls for increased regulation have risen dramatically. And after forty years of allowing unrestricted growth of Big Tech, lawmakers have started to respond. Last year, CEOS of Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon testified before Congress on antitrust concerns. The Justice Department has since filed an antitrust suit against Google. While we have yet to see if anything substantial results from these efforts, it is one step forward. On the cultural front we have seen increasing numbers of articles, tv-shows, movies, taking on negative perspectives of Big Tech, attempting to expose the truth behind their practices. And on a more practical and actionable front, we see that an increasing number of users are taking steps to free themselves (somewhat) from the hold of Big Tech, for example through Adblock and VPN use.
  Perceptions are changing – and these attitude shifts away from Big Tech will pave the way for an increased awareness of alternatives.
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Section III: Can we Draw on the Environmental Movement?

It may be insightful to compare the environmental movement with the free software movement. Given the similarities between privacy pollution and atmospheric pollution, it is a comparison that makes sense to draw.

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The origins of the environmental movement began in response to the increasing levels of atmospheric pollution in the atmosphere following the Industrial Revolution. Eventually, people became aware of the dire problem associated with this pollution. And with that knowledge and awareness came change. It became increasingly clear that changes had to be made to combat climate change. And things have been changing, both at the governmental level (e.g., Paris Agreement, and several other treaties), and at the individual level (e.g., driving zero emission vehicles, recycling).

Although there is still a long way to go in combating climate change, there has been progress in the fight. Any why is this? Because people finally understand the significance of the threat to the environment that comes with continuing the status quo. Alternatives exist (e.g., renewable energy sources), people are aware of those alternatives, and people want a future on our planet.

Drawing on comparisons with the environmental movement, we should see the day-to-day shifts in the cultural perception towards Big Tech as a step, albeit a small step, forward.

Or perhaps the comparison might lead you to consider the major cycle of change to be generational. Following that line might lead, I think, to more insights that would improve the next draft.
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In response to the increasing levels of atmospheric pollution, people eventually became aware of the dire consequences. With that knowledge and awareness, it became increasingly clear in the early 1980s that changes had to be made to combat climate change. And things have been changing, both at the governmental level (e.g., the Paris Agreement), and at the individual level (e.g., zero emission vehicles, recycling). But it was beginning in late 2018 that climate strikes emerged with a series on international protests demanding action be taken. These strikes were, for the most part, a part of the school strike for climate movement, inspired by climate activist Greta Thunberg, and largely led by students.
 
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Although there is still a long way to go in combating climate change, there has been progress. Any why is this? Because people finally understand the significance of the threat that comes with continuing the status quo. Alternatives exist (e.g., renewable energy sources), people are aware of those alternatives, and people want a future on our planet. Drawing on comparisons with the environmental movement, we should see the day-to-day shifts in the cultural perception towards Big Tech as a step, albeit a small step, forward. And just as the environmental movement is largely rooted in a generational cycle, the third step towards pursuing a world free from the control of Big Tech – awareness that alternatives exist – is similarly impacted by the generational cycle. Every year, more and more people are growing up with the internet as it currently stands shaping and framing their minds. They are growing up in the very context of Big Tech, absorbed in these services, without the knowledge that an alternative exists. While the younger generations are central to major cycles of changes in the environmental movement, it is really the older generations that could be central to change in the Big Tech context. Those that grew up using the internet before the bombardment, disturbance and surveillance that accompanied Big Tech services, are essential. It is those generations of people whose minds were not formed in relation to the internet, that can play an instrumental role in helping younger generations realize that alternatives do exist.
 



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Revision 2r2 - 06 Dec 2021 - 16:53:30 - EbenMoglen
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