The real danger of Big Tech is the total control of what is communicated in them

Although they say otherwise, that they promote freedom of expression, the reality is very different for two reasons:

First: freedom of expression is not freedom to offend, attack, insult, lie, etc…. What happens on the Internet is something very different from what is required of newspaper publications, and if they do not comply, they are presented before a court judge and receive the corresponding sanction.

Technology companies are not responsible for what is published in them since 1996 according to the famous Section 230, and that has served them very well to dedicate themselves to “communicating” all kinds of barbarities without any responsibility at all, until they end up making of Internet (as many have already said) the greatest risk to democracy.

Second: the business model of these companies is based on people communicating many things and being addicted to the APP in question. The more they “live” in the APP and the more they share within it (whatever they share), the more information the platform obtains from all of them, and therefore it will be able to get more income from the sale of that information.

And manipulating people makes them more addicted, with which lies (now called fake news) are a very good tool to get followers. Because that’s just what it’s about, getting followers to share a lot of information with each other for as long as possible.

Just so we have some data, 68% of Americans get their information through social networks (and I suppose something similar happens in Europe and the rest of the world), and we all know who dominates that market.

And it is a growing, captive market that, as we have seen, promotes misinformation and lies, putting our democratic system at risk.

And the question that arises is: until when?

Why is it that a newspaper is required to behave and control the veracity of what is reported, and the same is not done with other media?

And don’t tell me the story of the defense of progress, because garbage is not progress, although a few have progressed and made a lot of money thanks to it. And they continue to earn it by doing harm to our society.

I think we allow what’s happening because we are more or less” asleep” and we do not hold anyone accountable, not even our politicians who allow it.

Shame on all of us.