Special Takeover: The Debugger podcast has taken over the Ways & Means feed for a three-part series: Defending Democracy (and Us!) from Big Tech. This episode is the third of the series.

Large technology companies are so powerful they now threaten democracy. They are too big to sue, and current regulations are not holding them responsible for their actions or outcomes. What can be done when a large tech company is doing something that is harmful to society? How can the technology companies that want to differentiate themselves demonstrate they are behaving responsibly? Well – this isn’t the first time the U.S. has been faced with a large, runaway industry that needed effective government oversight. We’ll look closely at the governance frameworks that are used for big banks, environmental polluters, drug companies to allow them to demonstrate responsible decision making.

The series is produced with support from the Cyber Policy Program at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, and Duke’s Kenan Institute for Ethics.

Special Takeover: The Debugger podcast has taken over the Ways & Means feed for a three-part series: Defending Democracy (and Us!) from Big Tech. This is episode two of that series.

Very large tech companies fit into a special tech category called “platforms.” Companies like Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Amazon are so big – it’s like they are on a raised on a platform at a country fair, and can be heard all over the fairgrounds. The platform gives them an advantage; because they can be heard by more people, their technology can have a more impactful reach.

These companies have a lot of money, and power. But what if society becomes convinced one of these tools is hurting kids, or failing democracy, or polluting the environment, or stealing? Since they are so big that even fines don’t seem to scare them, what now?

In this episode: we’ll explore what’s been tried to hold tech companies accountable.

The series is produced with support from the Cyber Policy Program at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, and Duke’s Kenan Institute for Ethics.

Special Takeover: The Debugger podcast has taken over the Ways & Means feed for a three-part series: Defending Democracy (and Us!) from Big Tech.

In this episode: It’s critical to understand just how hard it is to tell big tech companies what to do. The United States’ legal system is set up for a fair fight, but in practice tech firms are often able to act as their own judge and jury. They control everything from what apps we see, to what data they collect about us to whether or not misinformation and hate speech circulate widely online.

Series produced with support from the Cyber Policy Program at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, and Duke’s Kenan Institute for Ethics.