4 ms·

It’s long past time that Google, Twitter, Facebook etc were legally declared to be public utilities and regulated as such.

adventured 6y ago
Don't do that. Do almost anything other than that. If you make them public utilities, they'll get even worse, become more politically tangled, become even more entrenched, impossible to remove and impossible to compete with. You'll put the government directly into the business of preventing competition against them via intense regulation and government-lobby protection. There are a lot of ways to restrain big tech before you get to the public uiltity option.
- goatinaboat 6y ago
  If you make them public utilities, they'll get even worse, become more politically tangled, become even more entrenched, impossible to remove and impossible to compete with. You'll put the government directly into the business of preventing competition against them via intense regulation and government-lobby protection. I think your fears are overblown, when was the last time the power company, the phone company, the sewer company, the train operator, the postal service decided on a whim to un-person someone? Sure those organisations aren't perfect by a long shot but by and large they are trustworthy and accountable.
  - doctor_eval 6y ago
    Yeah but it's a short step from that to being forced to exclusively use the state-mandated email provider in order to be able to communicate with the government or big businesses... at a cost.
- perryizgr8 6y ago
  > impossible to compete with. That's already true. Look at how Google is banning accounts without recourse. Or how Twitter and Facebook are censoring personal and public discourse to push their political agenda. Why are they able to do so? Because it is already impossible to compete with them. I second the idea of declaring them as public utilities.
conradfr 6y ago
It needs to be regulated in some way. At least for email providers. I guess we'll have to wait for some high profile people in the EU administration to be mistakenly banned by Google so they look into it.
- dzhiurgis 6y ago
  We need better email providers. We need to stop using phone numbers as unique identifiers. We need email that has encryption built in. Which kinda suggest governments should run their own email services.
  - Yolta 6y ago
    > Which kinda suggest governments should run their own email services. No, no, no, no, no, let's not go there. Small independent hosters is a more compelling solution.
    - goatinaboat 6y ago
      No, no, no, no, no, let's not go there. Small independent hosters is a more compelling solution. Yes, our culture is perfectly capable of delivering essential (and nonessential but nonetheless everyday) services through regulated private independent companies. Typically some sort of exclusive license is granted, yet to maintain that license certain standards must be adhered to. You can see a dozen examples of this on any high street, any business handling food for example.
      - dzhiurgis 6y ago
        On one hand food can kill you, but at least no one will see your browsing history...

adventured 6y ago

Don't do that. Do almost anything other than that. If you make them public utilities, they'll get even worse, become more politically tangled, become even more entrenched, impossible to remove and impossible to compete with. You'll put the government directly into the business of preventing competition against them via intense regulation and government-lobby protection. There are a lot of ways to restrain big tech before you get to the public uiltity option.

goatinaboat 6y ago
If you make them public utilities, they'll get even worse, become more politically tangled, become even more entrenched, impossible to remove and impossible to compete with. You'll put the government directly into the business of preventing competition against them via intense regulation and government-lobby protection. I think your fears are overblown, when was the last time the power company, the phone company, the sewer company, the train operator, the postal service decided on a whim to un-person someone? Sure those organisations aren't perfect by a long shot but by and large they are trustworthy and accountable.
- doctor_eval 6y ago
  Yeah but it's a short step from that to being forced to exclusively use the state-mandated email provider in order to be able to communicate with the government or big businesses... at a cost.
perryizgr8 6y ago
> impossible to compete with. That's already true. Look at how Google is banning accounts without recourse. Or how Twitter and Facebook are censoring personal and public discourse to push their political agenda. Why are they able to do so? Because it is already impossible to compete with them. I second the idea of declaring them as public utilities.

conradfr 6y ago

It needs to be regulated in some way. At least for email providers. I guess we'll have to wait for some high profile people in the EU administration to be mistakenly banned by Google so they look into it.

dzhiurgis 6y ago
We need better email providers. We need to stop using phone numbers as unique identifiers. We need email that has encryption built in. Which kinda suggest governments should run their own email services.
- Yolta 6y ago
  > Which kinda suggest governments should run their own email services. No, no, no, no, no, let's not go there. Small independent hosters is a more compelling solution.
  - goatinaboat 6y ago
    No, no, no, no, no, let's not go there. Small independent hosters is a more compelling solution. Yes, our culture is perfectly capable of delivering essential (and nonessential but nonetheless everyday) services through regulated private independent companies. Typically some sort of exclusive license is granted, yet to maintain that license certain standards must be adhered to. You can see a dozen examples of this on any high street, any business handling food for example.
    - dzhiurgis 6y ago
      On one hand food can kill you, but at least no one will see your browsing history...