Re:Sir Tim Berners-Lee warns of widening digital divide
by LinuxBender on Friday March 12, 2021 @11:05AM
(#26437199)
In my opinion, Google is more of a monitoring station for governments, [1] as is Facebook [2]. I agree that they do not hold the power to directly levy taxes or enforce compliance on their own accord. They can probably influence voting and other aspects of public perception. Netflix has a show called "The Great Hack" [3] that starts to go down this rabbit hole as well.
[1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbKxUYl3WSE
Re:Sir Tim Berners-Lee warns of widening digital divide
by pfarrell on Saturday March 13, 2021 @01:25AM
(#26444480)
Very nice, krapp. Despite the downvotes, you've given me some things to think about this weekend. I will concede I was hyperbolic in equating Google with a nation. I've picked that up from sci fi and futurist stuff, but I'll have to think about how it would work in reality, for a corporation to gain that kind of authority.
The power of a nation state is based on its ability to maintain and control property, levy taxes and enforce compliance with its authority through a monopoly on violence. The premise that Google or any web platform has anything near the power of a nation state is ridiculous.
Also, Google isn't an independent state, they're a corporation and as such are subject to the laws of the nation(s) in which they operate. They do what they do because governments allow them to, not because they have the power to defy governments at will.