Two-Faced Tech
by Miki Saxon
Social media is quick to strike if a company doesn’t live by its values, whether a Silicon Valley darling or a startup in China.
At least it does when it comes to sex, harassment, drugs, and the like.
However, social media is great at turning a blind eye to the lying actions of the giants — kind of a specialized “too big to…”
To understand the true impact of the lying, one has to recognize that the major difference between the US and other countries is that the US legalized corruption under the term “lobbying.”
Anyone who follows the news knows that companies and individuals hire or employ lobbyists to sway politicians to approve/disapprove new legislation.
The lies I’m referring to are most blatantly from Facebook, but the others aren’t far behind.
It boils down to a “say what they want to hear, but do as you please” attitude.
You can see this playing out in California where millions are being raised specifically to kill, or at the least seriously defang, California’s nascent privacy law.
In addition to Facebook, Google, AT&T, Microsoft, Amazon, Verizon, and the California New Car Dealers Association have each contributed six figure donations to the Chamber account set up to defeat CCPA. Uber, the Data & Marketing Association, Cox Communications, and the Interactive Advertising Bureau have each contributed $50,000 to the account, according to disclosures.
They consider it bad enough in Europe, where the population has the temerity to think they not only own their personal data, but should control its usage.
Do that in California, which could lead to other states and, eventually, the country?
How dare them.
And how dare Americans for thinking they should have the same rights.
Who the hell do they think they are?
Image credit: Kevin Hale
