The Trial of Big Tech
Prosecution, defence and verdict — all in one place.
There’s been a lot of talk recently about breaking up Big Tech. This talk is usually inspired by accusations that Big Tech companies have been indulging in anti-competitive practices and that they’ve failed to protect people’s data and privacy.
But whilst such accusations may be perfectly reasonable and do highlight genuine problems with these companies, they don’t clearly identify the most fundamental problems at the very heart of their being — the malintent or callousness that underpins their very existence.
Big Tech is guilty of so much more than just stifling competition.
Sure, along with thousands of other businesses, some Big Tech companies have used anti-competitive practices to boost their profits. But when they do get caught, they can usually just stop doing it, pay a fine and carry on reaping in the profits, fairly minimally affected by no longer being able to indulge in that particular piece of naughtiness.
But there are some practices so fundamental to what Big Tech companies do, that they can’t really do without them and still be the same business.
So what are the most fundamental crimes of these Big Tech behemoths? What are the crimes…
