Tech companies believe 'public has no right to understand how they function'

Silicon Valley has become 'de facto Ministry of Truth'

By WND News Services
Published September 30, 2020 at 1:37pm

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[Editor's note: This story originally was published by Real Clear Politics.]

By Kalev Leetaru
Real Clear Politics

Social media platforms are our modern digital public squares in which the public, press, and policymakers come together on what amounts to digital private property to debate our nation’s future. Within these Orwellian walled gardens, ever-changing rules of “acceptable speech” dictate what Americans are permitted to say and see. Dissenting views are often redefined as “misinformation” and “hate speech,” while inconvenient facts disappear into the “memory hole.” As Silicon Valley has become the de facto Ministry of Truth, why have the corporate gatekeepers not encountered greater pushback? The answer is that in the absence of governmental regulations requiring greater transparency about their operations, they are able to shield their growing power from public scrutiny.

These companies increasingly operate today as black boxes. In their view, the public has no right to understand how they function, the rules they operate by, how those rules are decided -- or even what happens to their personal data. In response to questions, the companies answer with either silence or carefully worded statements that avoid transparency.

https://www.wnd.com/2020/09/tech-companies-believe-public-no-right-understand-function/