8 ms·
Ad-tech is fascist tech
- guywithahat 7mo ago[flagged]
- SunshineTheCat 7mo ago> "unless your definition of fascism is just a thing you don't like" I think online at least, this has become fairly normal for many of the most charged words/accusations/charges. The problem with doing this, of course, is that when the word is needed for something it actually represents, you run the risk of people thinking you're talking about something mundane.
- __alexs 7mo agoThe only interest the Nazi's had in socialism was eliminating it. They invented privatisation and crushed unions.
- inquirerGeneral 7mo ago[dead]
- righthand 7mo agoYou’re forgetting that a key aspect to fascist systems is tracking and identifying individuals and removing any privacy barriers so they can be classified and prosecuted.
- inquirerGeneral 7mo ago[dead]
- ragall 7mo ago> Fascism, at least as the Nazi's defined and implemented it, is the belief that a socialist economy will work when the people have a similar genetic likeness. Wrong. You can read Umberto Eco's essay "Ur-Fascism" to have a more informed view.
- deleted 7mo ago[deleted]
- dredmorbius 7mo agoI was going to share that myself. It's available from its original publisher the New York Review of Books: <https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1995/06/22/ur-fascism/ https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1995/06/22/ur-fascism/> If paywalled, also at The Anarchist Library: <https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/umberto-eco-ur-fascism https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/umberto-eco-ur-fasci...>. Robert O. Paxton's The Anatomy of Facism explores the concept in more detail, at book length. Those looking for a specific definition might prefer to skip forward to Chapter 8, "What Is Fascism?" <https://files.libcom.org/files/Robert%20O.%20Paxton-The%20Anatomy%20of%20Fascism%20%20-Knopf%20(2004).pdf https://files.libcom.org/files/Robert%20O.%20Paxton-The%20An...>
- ragall 7mo agoThanks, I wasn't aware of the latter book.
- krunck 7mo agoWhile the author is using the term "fascist" in a more pejorative way than in a strictly descriptive way, it is not wrong to say many trends in big tech are pointed in a fascist direction. "Fascism is characterized by support for a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived interest of the nation or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy." Source: Wikipedia(Emphasis mine)
- baal80spam 7mo agoIn social media at least it's akin to "this thing I don't like".
- mindslight 7mo ago> Fascism, at least as the Nazi's defined and implemented it, is the belief that a socialist economy will work when the people have a similar genetic likeness. I have seen many arguments supporting the destructionists (aka trumpists) from that exact vein. From the longstanding abstract "immigrants come here and sit on welfare" and "we need to take care of our own" to specifically supporting the recent pogroms as necessary before we can do things like fix healthcare or restore employees' negotiating power. So even by your definition, it seems eminently reasonable to describe the destructionist movement as fascist. And the point isn't to use the label, drop the mic, and consider the topic solved. But rather it's to have a basic dialogue so that we can discuss constructive solutions for opposing it - and that's basically how it's being used in the original post, regardless of your tone policing. (On the idea itself, I'd say it's preposterous to think that the corpos that drive our politics are going to suddenly switch to supporting socialism if only we racially purify our society, but there are unfortunately a lot of true believers. I'd say the dynamic is more like the only point of the socialist aspect is to assuage people's consciences for having rejected their empathy here and now)
- krunck 7mo ago"...Google execs all work for their shareholders, in a psychotic "market system" in which the myth of "fiduciary duty" is said to require companies to hurt us right up to the point where the harms they inflict on the world cost them more than the additional profits those harms deliver" Nailed it.
- tptacek 7mo agoNot really. The idea that "fiduciary duty" requires companies to maximize shareholder value is a pernicious Internet myth.
- fsflover 7mo agoAnd yet this is exactly how every single megacorp works.
- topaz0 7mo agoThat myth long predates the internet version of it I think. Pernicious, yes. But note that the quote does call it out as a myth.
- tptacek 7mo agoFiduciary duty isn't a myth! It just doesn't mean what people claim it means.
- fsflover 7mo agoWill you enlighten us?
- kasey_junk 7mo agoThere is no legal requirement to maximize shareholder value. The very idea is an economic theory popularized by Friedman and his students. It gained popularity in corporate governance since then but it’s not a legal requirement it’s a shareholder preference. But that preference is violated all the time. People often cite a 1919 era case from Henry ford because it has a pithy statement but the court in that case explicitly upheld many of the decisions Ford made that violated the principle. That is, there is no law or precedent that requires corporate officers to only consider shareholders.
- nickff 7mo ago[flagged]
- sharkjacobs 7mo agoWould you be assuaged if it was titled "Ad-tech is police state tech"?
- lo_zamoyski 7mo agoWord use is important. We have allowed thumos (and epithumia) to rule over nous. It has become acceptable to misuse words, like "fascist" or "communist" in political contexts, to the detriment of rational and fruitful discourse. Often a false equivalence is drawn between denying something is "fascist" or "communist" and denying something is bad. This is false. Something can be bad without being fascist or communist. There is plenty to be critical about in American politics and in tech, but calling everything you don't like "fascist" or "communist" isn't helpful. These seem to be go-to words used by those "defending" what is now a crumbling postwar liberal democratic order, i.e., anything that seems at odds with this order is reflexively called one of these two terms, depending on which faction of the American uniparty you align with.
- mindslight 7mo agoWord use is important. Please explain how the trumpist movement significantly differs from most points of Umberto Eco's Ur-Fascism. Because in my estimation, the word is entirely appropriate for what we're facing and people are shouting it down because they don't like the uncomfortable truth. I'm open to changing my mind, especially if there is a better term that more accurately describes what we're facing. Because the dynamic isn't merely "crumbling postwar liberal democratic order", but rather a particular overly-simplistic reaction to that crumbling.
- OCASMv2 7mo ago[flagged]
- Herring 7mo agoYou’d still be having fascism here even if the internet didn’t exist. The most reliable way to prevent the rise of the far right is to implement robust safety nets and low inequality, to reduce status anxiety and grievance. Support for such measures (welfare, healthcare, unionization, high taxes etc) is usually low among Americans. Eventually rents/healthcare/tuitions outpace income, so people become desperate and start voting for strongmen. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/10/welfare-cuts-are-fuelling-far-right-rise-warns-un-expert https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/10/welfare-cuts...
- christkv 7mo agoHow do you prevent the rise of the far left? Just asking because both axis are as much a threat to human freedom and happiness.
- topaz0 7mo agoThe post is not about preventing the rise of fascism, it's about not preemptively building tools for them to use in implementing fascism.
- Herring 7mo agoYeah sorry I'm not a fan of rearranging deck chairs on the titanic.
- pigeons 7mo agoRemember those sci-fi books and movies about the dystopian totalitarian futures where advertisements were constantly targeted at you?
- deleted 7mo ago[deleted]
- leptons 7mo agoI worked for an ad-tech company for 3 months. I could not wait to get out of there. It became clear to me quickly that the data these people wanted to collect on anyone and everyone could be used against me should they want to - not that I was doing anything questionable, but it was just creepy as F**. The final straw for me was when they got some kind of contract with a major hotel chain and were all-too-giddy to listen in on the smart TVs in every room. I did not want to help them further any of their agendas, so I bailed on that place. Fortunately this was many years ago when dev jobs were easy to come by, I had 3 offers in a week.
- amadeuspagel 7mo agoHN has ads (job ads for YC companies). When I see people post these deranged takes about ads on HN, I always ask myself: Do they not notice this--a common criticism of ads is that they blend too much into the real content, and this is nowhere more true then on HN--or do words just not mean anything to them, do they just mindlessly repeat memes rather then thinking about what these ideas mean for their own life? Is a sentence which to me expresses an idea to them more akin to a drug that gives them a kind of moral high? Because if I thought that ads were fascist, I'd look for a forum that doesn't have any, like Lobsters[1]. [1]: https://lobste.rs/ https://lobste.rs/
- topaz0 7mo agoBy "ad-tech" it's referring to the surveillance that underlies modern targeting of ads on the internet. YC's job ads don't do that.
- hightrix 7mo agoWhen most people complain about ads, they are complaining about targeted ads. Job postings, Show HN, and other ads on HN are contextually relevant to a majority of the users and require no tracking to present. This post appears to be about the former, not the later.
- clxxx 7mo agoAds aren’t inherently fascist but the modern implementation of ads put forth by companies like meta and google are. Having terms that allow companies to spy on your daily routine and habits in order to sell that info to companies that would then push their products to you is dystopian and fascist. This is not a simple billboard. The mechanism that ad companies use infringes upon our basic rights for privacy with manufactured consent.
- topaz0 7mo agoWhy is this flagged?
- afpx 7mo agoWhy was this flagged? And, there's no vouch option Yes, Thiel openly says surveillance tech is the anti-Christ. Then, he goes on to build the tech. The frustrating thing is seeing it happen in real-time and knowing you can't inform or educate enough people.
- afpx 7mo agohttps://www.worthynews.com/105933-peter-thiel-warns-of-antichrist-system-rising-through-global-tech-and-ai-surveillance https://www.worthynews.com/105933-peter-thiel-warns-of-antic...
- dredmorbius 7mo agoOnly [dead] stories can be vouched. It's still possible to vote for, or comment on, [flagged] stories. <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38918548 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38918548>
- deleted 7mo ago[deleted]
- xyclonbee 7mo ago[flagged]
- haunter 7mo agoIs there anything that Doctorow actually enjoys and likes? I used to read his blog but it's constant negativity. He is not wrong at all but it's just not good for our mental health either.
- hn_acker 7mo agoHe enjoys writing [1], takes pride in making his collages [2], reviews sci-fi books every once in a while [3][4], and oh wow what is he doing [5]: > Oh, nothing, just individually locating and downloading 9.5gb worth of (200+) high-rez (3600px wide) scans out of a 16th C book of extremely satisfying machine from the Library of Congress, one at a time, labeling them, and putting them in a folder for future collage work. [1] https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/19/now-we-are-six/ https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/19/now-we-are-six/ [2] https://pluralistic.net/2025/12/03/cannier-valley/ https://pluralistic.net/2025/12/03/cannier-valley/ [3] https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/04/slice-bees/ https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/04/slice-bees/ [4] https://pluralistic.net/2025/12/02/constant-reader/ https://pluralistic.net/2025/12/02/constant-reader/ [5] https://bsky.app/profile/doctorow.pluralistic.net/post/3mgpzqqxly22t https://bsky.app/profile/doctorow.pluralistic.net/post/3mgpz...
- zombot 7mo agoHe calls out the things that need to be called out. It's in the nature of those things that it's not unicorns and rainbows.
- eliemichel 7mo agoIt saddens me to see this flagged, I did not have any predefined opinion about the author or the medium, but I did enjoy reading a text with a bit of character - which is becoming rare in these times of LLM omnipresence. And whether we like the form or not, this is an opinionated piece like many others we see on HN, with a thesis that I find pretty relevant. Beyond saddened, I am actually worried to see the HN community dismiss this type of post rather than discussing it like others.
- zombot 7mo agoOf course it's flagged. Because telling it like it is is not welcome at the altar of ruthless profits.
- tim333 7mo ago>The harms of mass commercial surveillance were never hard to foresee. I don't think I've ever been harmed by this stuff. Google no doubt knows a lot about me as I use their stuff and I imagine they'd show me a targeted ad if I didn't have an ad blocker but not much harm there really? Has any Google user been actually harmed like that?
- fsflover 7mo agoIt doesn't harm individuals, unless you speak against the government and they don't like you. Then you are in trouble, since it becomes very easy to find you or find something against you. This is how it harms the freedom of speech and democracy. Everyone should have privacy to protect the activists and journalists. It’s sort of like freedom of speech is necessary not just for journalists, but for everyone, even if you have nothing to say. Well, actually it does harm individuals by forcing them to buy something they didn't want to buy through targeted ads. Examples: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45565346 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45565346
- tim333 7mo agoI will give you the near monopoly on things like advertising pushes up the prices of things like hotels as they have to give a percentage to Google and similar.