Why not Big Tech?

The Case against FAANG

Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google -- and don't forget Palantir

This page contains links to articles, tweets and other online resoures outlining all that is wrong with Big Tech. I started this list as I found myself continuously reading horrible things about the big companies within my field and I felt like the information was worth sharing.

At the end of the page, there is a list of books I would recommend both about tech and society in general.

And just FYI. This is not a smear-campaign or something I have written without thinking about the good that these companies are also doing like connecting people, making buying and selling goods easier, sharing information and ideas etc.. I am a software engineer. I know this. And it is because I know this and a little more on the intricacies of the technologies that are out there that I want to voice my skepticism. Maybe at some point this was about the user, but for these companies today, the user is the product we are sold at a profit without even knowing to whom or for what price. This is not democratic. This is not making the world a better place. This is pitting us against each other in the fight for our attention and our money. This is creating and serving controversial content exactly because this is what makes us engange -- no matter how wrong or harmful the content is. We can do better -- and doing so is easier on an informed basis.

This page is maintained by me at the rate I have capacity for. The basic flow is: I read something horrible yet credible and I add it. Is it pretty? No. Does it get the message across? Hopefully. If you would like to contribute, please reach out. Help is always appreciated.

Why not Google

The ousting of Timnit Gebru

How Google fired their Lead AI Ethicist for trying to make Google more Ethical.

What Really Happened When Google Ousted Timnit Gebru - Wired
We read the paper that forced Timnit Gebru out of Google. Here's what it says. - MIT Technology Review

Treatment of minorities

Working at Google made me suicidal - Reddit

"Diversity, Equity and Inclusion"

For truly ethical AI, its research must be independent from big tech - The Guardian

Why not Facebook (Meta)

On how Facebook is ruining Democracy

Democracy at risk if Facebook does not change, says former Zuckerberg adviser - The Guardian
History Will Not Judge us Kindly - The Atlantic
Facebook Remains a Threat to Democracy - The Nation

The Metaverse

Surveillance will follow us into 'the metaverse,' and our bodies could be its new data source - The Washington Post

Why not Apple

Much more coming up soon.

Apple workers are organizing an #AppleToo movement - Protocol

Why not Amazon

On horrible working conditions and descriptions of how capitalism has removed all humanity from a company.

Jeff Bezos

Why not Palantir

Palatir is surveillance to the max.

Techie Software Soldier Spy Palantir, Big Data's scariest, most secretive unicorn, is going public. But is its crystal ball just smoke and mirrors? - New York Intelligencer
Why Did Palantir Technologies Move Its Headquarters From Silicon Valley to Denver? - 5280
Investing In Immigrant Surveillance: Palantir And The #NoTechForICE Campaign - Forbes
The war inside Palantir: Data-mining firm's ties to ICE under attack by employees - The Washington Post
Palantir filed to go public. The firm's unethical technology should horrify us - The Guardian
War on immigrants: Powered by Palantir - No Tech For ICE

Peter Thiel

What is it About Peter Thiel? - The New Yorker
Peter Thiel Gamed Silicon Valley, Donald Trump, and Democracy to Make Billions, Tax-Free - Bloomberg

Why not Netflix

NETFLIX SCRAMBLED INTERNALLY TO SUPPRESS A CONTROVERSIAL MOVIE FROM SEARCH RESULTS - The Verge

Suggested books

For some of the books, rather than linking to a page where you can buy it, I am linking to a Wikipedia page instead. Read more about it. If you like it, buy it anywhere, but please consider chosing someone other than Amazon.

To some, this might seem like a little mix of everything, and maybe it is. For me, these books together show how big corporations avoid legislation, undermine worker's rights and democracy in the pursuit of eternal growth and maximal profit (which is impossible on a planet with limited resources).

The books show how tech-schauvinism is creating a surveillance society at a profit while eroding and ruining our lives right before our eyes. It's a tough realization, but knowing this is needed if we want to change (which we desperately do!).

Bullshit Jobs - David Graeber

How we pretend to work to feel like we have earned a fair living and how are lives are defined by our jobs. Are we really working to live or living to work?

Privacy is Power - Clarissa Véliz

An insight into how we are surveilled on a daily basis and what we, as a society through legislation and as individuals to limit spying eyes' access.

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism - Shoshana Zuboff

A description of the business model of Big Tech, how it was allowed in the first place and all things that makes it wrong today.

Algorithms of Opression - Safyia Noble

How algorithms, with specific focus on Google's search engine undermine democracy and expose all the bias in society towards non-whites, especially towards women of color.