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I've noticed this trend here on HN beyond workers organizing for their own benefit. The idea of regulating the internet, for almost any reason was abhorrent to
by Zak 8y ago
I've noticed this trend here on HN beyond workers organizing for their own benefit. The idea of regulating the internet, for almost any reason was abhorrent to the tech community a decade ago.
Now, most people seem to think the likes of Uber and AirBnB need to be regulated. A majority of comments here about GDPR seem to support it, and I regularly see calls for more regulation of the sort. I'm not sure if the same group of people have changed their views, or if a wider range of people have brought new perspectives to the community.
- helen___keller 8y agoI think there was a sort of techno-utopianism in the aughts that the hip new startups will solve all the world's problems. People will be educated and not fall for disinformation with wikipedia and google at their fingertips. People will discover the wonders of democracy and free speech with facebook and rise against oppressive governments. These were obviously overly optimistic projections. Also, the rise of outrage porn makes it much easier for people to come to the conclusion that "the system" is horribly broken and needs to be changed (for almost any "system" that we speak of, government or capitalism, or youtube, literally anything)
- Zak 8y agoI think there's a tendency to discount the partial successes, perhaps because they make the failures yet more shocking. I can fact-check most things I read in seconds, yet there's a still-growing anti-vaccine movement. While the mechanisms promised are there and work great at an individual level, that's not always the case at a national, regional, or global scale. And now the popular hope seems to be that the wonders of democracy can temper the excesses that came with these partially successful solutions. It is my fear that this hope is also irrationally optimistic, and that regulation will lead to politicians and bureaucrats deciding what is true at scale for their own benefit.
- okmokmz 8y agoRegulating the internet is completely different than regulating Uber and AirBnB's business practices
- Zak 8y agoThat's true. Let me clarify: the first calls for regulation I saw get a lot of popular support on HN were for the meatspace business practices of Uber and AirBnB. Since then, I've seen a growth in support for regulation of activities done primarily or purely online, GDPR's opt-in tracking provisions being one of the most visible examples.
- dredmorbius 8y agoThere are numerous notable caes of changed views. Kara Swisher, Roger McNamee, BlackBerry cofounder Jim Balsillie, Tim Wu, Tristan Harris, the entire Wired editorial slant. Wind's done shifted.