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i'd suggest some more fleshing out to be meaty and coherent enough to comment substantially. but a general critique would be that the term "monopoly control" se

i'd suggest some more fleshing out to be meaty and coherent enough to comment substantially. but a general critique would be that the term "monopoly control" seems constraining, when what you seem to be talking about more generally is centralization (vs. decentralization). the connection to the economic concept of monopoly (which, for that one commenter who will otherwise insist, is not one company crowding out all others in a market, but rather a company having effective control of a market regardless of relative size) seems tenuous at best. how is propaganda, censorship, and surveillance inherent properties of an entity controlling the friend social network market (i.e., facebook) rather than an inherent property of the centralization of social networks (for instance)?

dredmorbius 6y ago
Can you think of an example of monopoly which does not entail centralisation? For regulatory purposes in the US, "monopoly" does not match either your definition nor the one I was taught in my intermediate microeconomics coursework. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20625775 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20625775 Courts do not require a literal monopoly before applying rules for single firm conduct; that term is used as shorthand for a firm with significant and durable market power — that is, the long term ability to raise price or exclude competitors. That is how that term is used here: a "monopolist" is a firm with significant and durable market power. https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-antitrust-laws/single-firm-conduct/monopolization-defined https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-a... Propaganda, censorsship, and surveillance are not the only concerns regarding monopoly. But within the media and communications domain, it seems that the problems and market-power structure are inherently linked. If there are any other points needing addressing I'd be happy to hear them.

dredmorbius 6y ago

Can you think of an example of monopoly which does not entail centralisation? For regulatory purposes in the US, "monopoly" does not match either your definition nor the one I was taught in my intermediate microeconomics coursework. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20625775 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20625775 Courts do not require a literal monopoly before applying rules for single firm conduct; that term is used as shorthand for a firm with significant and durable market power — that is, the long term ability to raise price or exclude competitors. That is how that term is used here: a "monopolist" is a firm with significant and durable market power. https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-antitrust-laws/single-firm-conduct/monopolization-defined https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-a... Propaganda, censorsship, and surveillance are not the only concerns regarding monopoly. But within the media and communications domain, it seems that the problems and market-power structure are inherently linked. If there are any other points needing addressing I'd be happy to hear them.