The case against Big Tech

Big Tech has become Too Big. Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are facing very real threats to their considerable power over our everyday lives from all sides: lawsuits, federal and state legislation, international action, and a public that is increasingly distrustful of these companies and eager for more regulation and enforcement. Silicon Valley has never been a land of peace. The major technological breakthroughs of modern times go hand in hand with scams, data leaks, abuses, and other misconducts. Silicon Valley is a tech hub of the world so any disturbances there impact the entire industry. Will Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google survive the antitrust onslaught? And will Microsoft face it at all?

FACEBOOK IS REELING FROM DATA BREACH SCANDALS

• One of its worst scandals was the leak inside Cambridge Analytica, a data firm owned by right-winger Robert Mercer. Cambridge Analytica collected personally identifiable information of nearly 90 million Facebook users

• In 2019, the US government fined Facebook $5bn for deceiving users over their ability to control their privacy over their own personal data.

• In 2020, the House antitrust subcommittee revealed documents showing Mark Zuckerberg's business methods as predatory.

• In 2021, Facebook were accused of facilitating the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar after it was revealed that they had amplified hate speech against them while failing to take down inflammatory posts. They have been sued over $150 billion for this violation by the Rohingya.

APPLE IS SEEING WANING USER PASSION

• Like most tech companies, Apple also has an exhaustive list of scandals. These range from anti-competitive practises, tax evasion, surveillance, censorship to poor working conditions

• Apple's sealing of several of its products was criticised for locking out customers and eliminating their ability to self-repair. A recent innovation-removing the headphone jack-was widely criticised

• The most glaring scandal is probably the abysmal conditions of its workers in China. In 2010, 14 Chinese workers committed suicide citing the conditions as the cause. Workers were reported to endure involuntary overtime work, cramped dormitories, and stressful and exhausting workdays

• Apple has been accused of tax evasion in Ireland amongst other places. In 2017, the Paradise Papers revealed that Apple "avoided billions of dollars in tax" using offshore companies

• In 2020, several publications found alleged incidents of forced labour in Apple's supply chain. According to some photographs, there is evidence that ore mined by children under dangerous conditions in Indonesia is possibly entering Apple's supply chain

GOOGLE IS PAYING FINES LEFT AND RIGHT

• The bulk of Google's scandals was regarding its disregard for user privacy. Gmail was accused of reading user emails in 2013

• At the same time, whistle-blower Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA had gained access to Google accounts and were using it to spy on US citizens. Google however claimed they did not give the NSA access to this private information

• In 2018 it was revealed that Google+ had a massive data breach between 2015-2018 resulting in the exposure of more than 500,000 users' private information

• In 2019, Google was fined more than $170 million by the Federal Trade Commission for violating children's privacy on YouTube. They were also accused of censoring data in its search results

• Fined $5 billion by the European Commission in July 2018 for "unfairly pushing its apps on smartphone users and thwarting competitors"

AMAZON IS STRUGGLING WITH ITS FRESH GROCERY SERVICE

• Amazon has been accused of an exhaustive list of wrongdoings. From anti-competitive practises to worker rights violations, the list goes on

• They are heavily opposed to unionisation and have been reported to have extremely poor and dangerous working conditions in their warehouses

• Workers are subjected to long hours with little pay. Recently their Covid-19 policies were criticised for being poor and unsafe. Workers held mass walkouts. They had even fired 2 workers who had publicly protested these conditions

• Amazon's Alexa has been accused of being used to spy on consumers

• Amazon.com pitched its facial-recognition system in the summer to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials as a way for the agency to target or identify immigrants, a highly controversial move that could shove the tech giant further into a growing debate over the industry's work with the government