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Good Morning. U.S. markets are closed for the Labor Day holiday.
As Hurricane Dorian thrashes the Bahamas, and Florida orders evacuations, its projected path brings to mind another storm—Hurricane Matthew in 2016—and, perhaps, a cautionary tale.
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In today’s holiday edition of The 10-Point, we explore the latest developments in big tech, including a brewing backlash against a handful of companies that have become a regular part of many of our lives. The industry is under increased scrutiny from government agencies and from consumers. We’ve collected some of our recent coverage here.
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Personal tech is simpler now. But there’s a new issue.
From Joanna Stern, personal technology columnist:
Nearly 30 years ago, my predecessor, Walt Mossberg, kicked off The Wall Street Journal’s original personal-technology column with a memorable sentence: “Personal computers are just too hard to use, and it isn’t your fault.”
In the past decade or so, that’s changed. Personal computers—from laptops to smartphones to smart speakers—became easier. Simple taps and swipes made technology accessible and ubiquitous, from the toddler on his Kindle Fire tablet to the grandma wishing her granddaughter “Happy Birthday!” on Facebook.
The ease of use, connectivity everywhere and that sweet, sweet promise of “free” gave rise to behemoth tech companies that, in most cases, offer the promise of human connection and technical innovation in exchange for things…well, that we don’t quite understand. Our digital privacy and security—even our states of mind—have been traded.
We’ve woken up to it now, and so have regulators and the tech giants. Companies are shifting strategies or at least paying lip service to the issues. Facebook promises more-private social networking; Google and Apple offer tools to limit our gadget usage.
What hasn’t changed from the time of Walt’s original column is that tension between consumers and the makers of their technology. It isn’t our fault that big tech companies got greedy, abused our data, offered hidden, sometimes-not-even-functional privacy controls and gobbled up competition. Navigating this new world is what the next passage of what personal technology is about.
Personal computers—aka smartphones—have taken away our control, and it isn’t your fault.
joanna.stern@wsj.com
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Who’s afraid of Big Bad Tech?
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ILLUSTRATION: MICHAEL BYERS
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Fictionalized versions of big tech firms are being cast as the bad guys in a batch of new novels and movies. It isn’t hard to see why, amid a tech backlash as parents revolt against the dominance of screens in children's lives, both at home and at school.
Schools, summer camps and other organizations are also under pressure from some parents who worry about digital records or say high-tech solutions like facial recognition have gone too far.
But it isn’t just kids. Technology makes it possible to keep track of almost anyone. Should you?
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The clash between government regulators and big tech companies intensified this summer.
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ILLUSTRATION: CHRISTOPHER WEYANT
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Across the ideological spectrum, the calls are growing louder: Washington must do more to rein in big business. In July, the Justice Department said it was opening a broad antitrust review into dominant technology firms.
Earlier this year the Federal Trade Commission created its own task force on tech competition, and the two agencies are clashing over their roles in the Trump administrations antitrust agenda. Adding to the pressure, a group of state attorneys general is also preparing an investigation.
In July, the FTC endorsed a record $5 billion settlement with Facebook over the company’s privacy missteps. The settlement also expanded potential liability for CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Politicians on Capitol Hill demanded more scrutiny of tech giants’ reach and plans as ties frayed between Washington and the industry. President Trump also weighed in, using a “Social Media Summit” at the White House to bond with supporters over shared grievances against tech companies.
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Amazon has ceded control of its site to an army of third-party sellers, resulting in thousands of banned, unsafe or mislabeled products. It isn’t the only company facing challenges over controlling its platform: Twitter recently updated its policy on hateful content, and last week Google agreed to pay around $200 million to U.S. authorities investigating alleged abuses of
children’s privacy and content on YouTube.
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Makan Delrahim, the Justice Department official expected to lead an antitrust investigation into Google’s business practices, says he takes a broad view of whether Big Tech dominance is harming innovation, product quality and consumer choice.
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The recent mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, renewed attention on the online message board 8chan, whose owner is now a central figure in the debate over hate speech on social media. Jim Watkins posted a defense of his site online after 8chan’s internet-service provider cut its ties to the site, effectively taking it down.
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The regulatory mood toward the tech industry is changing.
From reporter Ryan Tracy:
U.S. tech giants exist in no small part because light-touch regulation has allowed them to grow, but this summer showed us that paradigm has shifted. The question now is whether Washington ends up turning against its young.
The biggest threat to Alphabet, Facebook and Amazon is a new series of antitrust investigations into how they use (or abuse) market power. Congress, the Justice Department, the FTC and state attorneys general are all investigating the companies or preparing to do so. Expect them to proceed privately for months, with details leaking out via the companies’ critics, especially those willing to disclose their discussions with investigators.
A more public, politically charged debate will play out on Capitol Hill, where tangible legislation is unlikely but frustration with Big Tech is as bipartisan as apple pie. The Democratic-led House Antitrust Subcommittee will hold hearings offering a forum to Big Tech’s critics. Republicans support the antitrust probes too, and—egged on by President Trump—see little downside in bashing a perceived liberal bias in Silicon Valley. The White House is also mulling an executive order targeting this alleged bias in social-media platforms.
Antitrust cases take years to prosecute, and legislation enacting new restrictions on Big Tech doesn’t appear imminent, meaning the resolution of the “Techlash” is likely to be left to the party—and president—that wins the 2020 election.
ryan.tracy@wsj.com
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What Else We’re Reading
Was email a mistake? (The New Yorker)
At Facebook’s worst-performing content-moderation site in North America, one contractor has died, and others say they fear for their lives. (The Verge)
Three years of misery inside Google, the happiest company in tech. (Wired)
We all work for Facebook: Digital labor is valuable even when we do it for free; should we get paid? (Longreads)
YouTube executives ignored warnings, letting toxic videos run rampant. (Bloomberg)
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The 10-Point was the name given to the news column that runs on the front page of The Wall Street Journal.
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