With great power comes great responsibility, but for Silicon Valley’s mega-corporations, that hasn’t quite set in. The companies that host the vast majority of our online expression – most only a little over a decade old – have amassed a tremendous amount of power, and the ability to influence everything from how we consume news to what we wear.
For many users of corporate platforms, social media feels a bit like a public square, where debate and trade occur and movements begin. We’ve come to treat platforms like utilities, but they are not – nor can they be – neutral. The laws and proprietary rules that govern these companies have a uniquely American flavor, as does our increasing reliance on them to do the job of the state for us.
