While I agree that the onus should not be on consumers, it’s generally not bad advice to say “avoid those who abuse you”. it would be better, of course, to say “avoid those who abuse you… but I’ll be trying to protect you”

Look at it as a part of the portfolio of approaches we take to address this problem. It may not solve the problem on its own, but it's an important step to take. And arguably a necessary one; a great deal of what gives these companies so much power is that people simply can't imagine trying to do without them and don't even try.

Just because people say to stop giving them so much money and attention doesn't mean that they think that's the whole solution. But if you aren't making even a token effort to stop giving them so much money and attention, you're probably more part of the problem than the solution.

If you think these companies are a problem... take action. If you aren't willing to even so much as cancel a streaming subscription or take responsibility for backing up your own photos or whatever the issue is, you're sending major signals to the legislative system or whoever else it is you expect to swoop in and save you that you don't care enough for them to need to do anything either.

I don't mean this to be absolutist, either. I use Google in a few places, even despite my distrust and distaste of them. But even there, I hold them at arm's length. If they completely nuked my current accounts, it would mostly be an inconvenience. Worst bit would be the ~$20 of apps I'd have to repurchase. (I'd lose more than that but mostly I could just let them go.)