Americans are mad as hell, and they can't take it anymore.
At least, this was the general thrust of last month's two-day media-brouhaha-cum-congressional-testimony of Mark Zuckerberg over Facebook's privacy and data policies. But when it came time for each policymaker to articulate exactly what they were upset about, the tech CEO's inquisitors mostly floundered. There was no clear and agreed-upon ill that our esteemed delegates called upon Zuckerberg to redress. Rather, there seemed to be a vague idea that Facebook and other internet platforms were out of control, and that Something Must Be Done about it.
That "something," more often than not, is new regulations. Opportunistic policymakers are already capitalizing on the public's souring mood against tech giants by suggesting "tough" new rules to supposedly reign in Facebook, Google, and the rest.
Read Full Article »