Read on Twitter
Thread: This post was actually inspired by several tweets by the insightful @shadihamid on the ideological challenges that the Corona pandemic presents - https://www.tamhussein.co.uk/2020/04/after-the-pandemic-how-big-tech-threatens-western-liberal-democracies/
3. Caveat at the risk of sciolism- (the practice of opinionating on topics one has superficial knowledge)- the post talks about the impact of the pandemic; not how the virus behaves. I have found this book immensely helpful. https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/the-pandemic-century/ @honigsbaum @hurstpublishers
4. I have been working on the story since it broke- and kept my eye on big tech and now present some articles and issues that I thought was helpful. There is a perception that democracy is being undermined by autocratic or authoritarian governments like China and Russia.
5. They 'appear' effective- see how Russia has behaved here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-52109892 but this is actually about effective governance see how South Korea dealt with the issue: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/south-korea-coronavirus
6. The worry is with the increasing role of big tech in combatting this crisis and the undue influence big tech firms may exercise on the government after the pandemic. Now, if you're China that is not an issue: you can control the tech firms, but as a democracy thats a problem.
7. Traditionally, democracies have subdued big corps capturing the state. For instance, British Parliament managed to subdue the East India Company. They knew how to take the company over but can the government do that with Google if it did the same thing? https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2020/01/14/book-review-the-anarchy-the-relentless-rise-of-the-east-india-company-by-william-dalrymple/
8. Western democracies have been cognisant of even before the pandemic. See Huawei issue in UK, the Gupta brothers scandal in South Africa, Jeff Bezos touting for government work and UK and the backlash following Cambridge Analytica scandal- https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/19/us-very-concerned-over-huaweis-role-in-uk-5g-network
9. See also this: When Vanity Fair Asks has Jef Bezos become more powerful that Trump? https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/08/has-bezos-become-more-powerful-in-dc-than-trump
10. With pandemic tech companies are being embraced. They appear to be responsible citizens. Facebook is informing you about Covid, whilst Google, not unlike Putin, will track people’s movement to help public health chiefs. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52121264
11. Arguably, Western democracies finding it difficult to deal with the population lockdown. They cannot simply order a China style lockdown and so turn to tech companies to solve their problems. But that has a price: ethics are put on the back burner. https://www.businessinsider.com/palantir-employees-ice-petition-alex-karp-2019-8?r=US&IR=T
12. Whilst we might be disturbed by Derbyshire police force using drones to spy on walkers, and apart from an odd judge or two, there has been little if any institutional back lash. It is for our own good after all. OFCOM allows phone tracking: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/coronavirus-authorities-can-use-mobile-phone-tracking-0khmg0rmp
13. It is becoming increasingly clear that tech firms are set up to segue into becoming an essential element of the State. What happens when they don’t listen? A flavour of this see how Apple refused FBI to unlock phone of San Bernardino attackers: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/feb/22/tim-cook-apple-refusal-unlock-iphone-fbi-civil-liberties
14. In 1956, Phillip K. Dick wrote a short story called “Minority Report”, and warned against a world where crimes can be predicted. Fast forward to 2020: Robert Muggah writes glowingly of this ‘Dickish’ vision: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/cities-crime-data-agile-security-robert-muggah/
15 But Muggah also raises the ethical issues involved in using such technology. It needs checks and balances and a transparent framework to operate within. But to do that requires a totally different governmental architecture.
16. But what happens when Google Health become part of the NHS infrastructure or Zoom conferencing become intrinsic to the UK government with its China-based engineering team? Can Western liberal democracies remain independent? https://healthtech.blog.gov.uk/2020/03/28/the-power-of-data-in-a-pandemic/
17. See how Zoom is being used by UK government and the concerns that MOD has: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/uk-government-zoom-despite-mod
18. What happens when even the mundane is informed by big tech firms? These days even premiership teams rely on EA sports FIFA football game for data on a player. Perhaps big tech is already here to stay, and the pandemic is a catalyst. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/21/fifa-video-game-changed-football
19. After the pandemic, Western democracies will be faced with an immense challenge. We may shop differently, give away our data with more ease, accept unquestioningly the firms’ inherent benevolence just like we accepted state expansion into our private lives last century.
20. Defence of the Realm Act 1914, regulated everything from buying alcohol to flying kites, we never got rid of the passports or repealed the licensing laws after the war. These are a permanent fixture of our lives. Similarly, consider the sweeping laws introduced after 9/11
21. Now, under the threat of a new national emergency, we are being asked to accept not only restrictions on our freedoms but also big tech. If we are not careful the balance between government and the big tech firms may tilt towards the latter and they may capture the State.
22. On the other hand, if we start creating the structures to regulate them, give them and indeed us, a ‘social contract’ if you will, then government will remain in the hands of the people as opposed to the nerdy CEO with his unbuttoned shirt and his shareholders. - End Thread.
