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https://theconversation.com/as-the-digital-oligarchy-grows-in-power-nz-will-struggle-to-regulate-its-global-reach-and-influence-247899>
"The images of President Donald Trump at his inauguration surrounded by the
titans of the global tech industry is a warning of what could come: a global
digital oligarchy dominated by a tiny tech elite.
Companies like Meta, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, X Corp, and OpenAI (all based
in the United States) now operate beyond the control of most governments.
Countries like New Zealand are increasingly struggling to keep these companies
in check.
In the past decade, New Zealand has taken several measures to curb the
influence of powerful tech companies through voluntary agreements and tax
legislation.
But the digital age has fundamentally changed national sovereignty – the right
of individual countries to decide the rules within their own borders.
Big tech companies are gradually taking on functions traditionally reserved for
government institutions. For example, these companies have begun to function as
the arbiters of speech, controlling the visibility of certain ideas and
comments.
As recently as this month, Meta obscured searches for left-leaning topics
including “Democrats”, later blaming the issue on a “technical glitch”.
And as was widely covered in the media, Amnesty International released a report
claiming that Facebook’s algorithms “proactively amplified” anti-Rohingya
content in Myanmar, substantially contributing to human rights violations
against the ethnic group."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
