Between California and China

Context: The issues with present models of the internet space (the California Libertarian and Chinese Authoritarian models) are marred with inherent issues and should be kept in check with the rise of Big techs).

Issues with California Libertarian Model of Internet technology space:

• Presence of conflict of interest: they not only serve as mere platforms but also generate content.
• Monopoly: with curious conjunction of technology and finance; the more companies were valued, the more they needed monopoly rent extraction to be able to justify those valuations.
• Promotion of black box society: the algorithms were not subject to accountability.
• Mixed distributive implications: They empowered new players, but they also seem to destroy lots of businesses. (became the symbol of inequality of economic and political power.)
• Developed a hubris of sovereign power: a CEO (Twitter) exercising almost untrammelled authority over an elected president (of United States).
• Effects on democracy: as democracies became more polarised, free speech more weaponized, and the information order more manipulated, greater suspicion was going to be cast on this model.

Issues with Chinese Authoritarian Model:

• Increased censorship: For E.g. Poland, a government veering towards Authoritarianism, ironically, made laws preventing media companies from censoring tweets.
• Low technological capabilities: due to low investment and technology transfer.
• Threat to democracy: due to untrammelled executive power.
• Crony capitalism: creating local monopolies.

Justifications for regulations:

• Pushing back against big tech is not protectionism (supported by Big business in India): because this pushback is to curb the unfair advantages they use to exploit an open Indian market.
• Economic Interests: Being the nation of one of the largest internet and data users in the world, India can create iconic companies and value addition.
• Pretext to control information order: if the bog-techs tries to threaten the government’s idea of information order and cultural control.

Conclusion: We need to grapple with the internal contradictions of California Libertarianism but also need to be wary that these contradictions do not become the pretext for legitimizing Chinese Authoritarianism.