If 2017 was the year that tech became a lightning rod for dissatisfaction over everything from the last U.S. presidential election to the possibility of a smartphone-driven dystopia, 2018 already looks to be that much worse.
How More Regulation for U.S. Tech Could Backfire
Today’s rules haven’t caught up to innovation.
February 09, 2018
Alberto Manuel Urosa Toledano/Getty Images
Summary.
Innovation and its discontents are nothing new, going back at least to the 18th century. And with the proliferation of new tech products and their reach ever-deeper into our work, home, and personal lives, the recent revolt against big tech companies like Facebook and Amazon shouldn’t come as any big surprise. Where things get dangerous, however, is in untethered suggestions of a remedy in big regulation. What tech critics really want are more innovative rules. Traditional regulations, after all, were designed in response to earlier technologies and the market failures they generated. They don’t cover largely speculative and mostly future-looking concerns.