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We haven't, if you have money you can put your own people or people you have influence over/with into positions of authority, or help get, shall we say friendly
by brigandish 4y ago
We haven't, if you have money you can put your own people or people you have influence over/with into positions of authority, or help get, shall we say friendly legislators elected who help set the regulatory frameworks. You could influence news media by advertising with them and threatening to pull your advertising if they criticise or investigate you. You can bully governments by threatening to move your offices and factories abroad.
There's so much that giant companies can do. Ordinary folk only have their word of mouth, their wallets, and their votes. We saw how the rise of the internet gave these people power and things started to change, and so the word of mouth power was taken away through the actions of social media companies, which then affects how people use their wallets and their votes.
Once again, freedom of speech turns out to be the most important freedom in a democracy.