Big Tech
Ridiculous D.C. Invite of the Week: A Facebook Warning for Congress
A Capitol Hill event from the social media giant gives lawmaker staffs direct access to executives. Read more
Big Tech’s Yes Men Reassure Each Other at Harvard Law Conference
A conference featuring a who’s who of Silicon Valley defenders preaches to the converted, with Trump antitrust regulators participating. Read more
Following Mark Zuckerberg’s Hearing, FACEBOOK’s Libra Project Hangs in the Balance
The FACEBOOK CEO takes a beating before Congress, while dodging several key regulatory and governance issues about the virtual currency. Read more
Amazon’s Battle in Seattle Is a Fight Against Worker Power
The e-commerce giant has dropped $1.45 million to buy the Seattle City Council and blunt a vibrant working-class movement. Read more
Google Is Profiting From Notorious Hate Group’s Ads
The tech giant appears to only be enforcing part of its hate speech ad policy when it comes to anti-immigrant hate group FAIR. Read more
Zuckerberg Confronts the Reality of Libra’s Demise
Today on TAP: Libra isn’t happening, and the Facebook CEO knows it Read more
Moderate Democrats Back a Privacy Bill, Minus the Privacy
The New Democrat Coalition backs legislation that would preempt California’s strong tech privacy law, and replace it with next to nothing. Read more
Where Are the Workers When We Talk About the Future of Work?
CEOs, Silicon Valley investors, and techno-academics talk to themselves about new technologies, but workers must have a say in these debates as well. Read more
Seattle’s Biggest Corporations Try to Buy the City Council
Led by Amazon, which has poured $1.4 million into defeating socialist and progressive candidates, the city’s corporate sector wants to stop dead any talk of higher taxes funding public services. Read more
SoftBank’s Blurry Vision
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son lost $70 billion when the first tech bubble burst. His Vision Fund is heavily invested in practically every tech IPO disaster this year. Read more
Out With ALEC, In With Corporations Writing Their Own Laws
As the corporate bill mill wanes in influence, large businesses are taking matters into their own hands. Read more
How Neoliberal Policy Shaped the Internet—and What to Do About It Now
Unrestrained digital markets have given us monopoly, pervasive surveillance, and powerful vectors of disinformation. But a new agenda is emerging to turn things around. Read more
The Hacked States of America
Netflix’s ‘The Great Hack’ director Karim Amer discusses how stolen personal data are manipulated to advance demagoguery and disinformation. Read more
Disrupting Democracy: When Big Tech Takes Over a City
Google partner Sidewalk Labs wants to remake the Toronto waterfront as a privately run digital development. It may really be a digital dystopia. Read more
Google Is Like Facebook—but a Lot Smarter
Unlike Mark Zuckerberg’s company, Google knows how to wield soft power to avoid estranging Democrats. Read more
The Jobs Really Most Threatened by Machines
It’s not truckers. It’s cashiers. Read more
Some Friendly Chats Between Big Tech and Its Regulators
FOIAs of the Federal Trade Commission’s back-and-forth with Google make clear it’s less a regulator than a helpful pal. Read more
A Public Option Might Be Journalism’s Last Best Hope
Democratic candidates are returning en masse to Great Society–era policies, which may also hold the key to rescuing the Fourth Estate. Read more
The Power of the Public Option: A Q&A With Ganesh Sitaraman and Anne Alstott
The authors of a new book, The Public Option, explain why Americans should embrace government-provided services as plain good policy. Read more