
Soros calls Facebook and Google a  menace to society and obstacles to innovation - SirLJ
http://www.businessinsider.com/george-soros-calls-facebook-google-menace-society-obstacles-innovation-2018-1
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IBM
Soros is the ideological enemy of the Bannon wing on the political spectrum
and yet they both agree on regulating Big Tech. It's an exciting, and
bipartisan, time for the antitrust movement.

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lgleason
This is surprising considering that Google and Facebook tend to support a lot
of the Soros ideological agenda. Crazy and interesting times for sure......
but we definitely do need an anti-trust action to balance things out.

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bentruyman
To balance what out, exactly?

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sintaxi
Read the class action lawsuit recently filed against Google by James Damore.
That at least in part answers this question. Also check out Project Veritas.

edit: made more specific.

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dragonwriter
> Read the class action lawsuit recently filed against Google.

Depending on your definition of “recently”, I can think of at least three,
none of which seem on point (though the UK one about data collection _might_
be arguably connectable to an argument about a need for anti-trust action.)

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sintaxi
Thanks for pointing that out. Updated the post to be more specific.

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dragonwriter
Well, you sepcified which lawsuit (and it was one of the three recent ones I
had in mind), but not how it is in any way germane to a need for anti-trust
action.

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sintaxi
I actually wouldn't advocate for anti-trust action, I'm just pointing where
there is perceived imbalance caused by the dominance these tech companies
have.

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dragonwriter
> I actually wouldn't advocate for anti-trust action

You literally just did by using the case to answer a question about the need
for anti-trust action.

> I'm just pointing where there is perceived imbalance caused by the dominance
> these tech companies have.

But the case doesn't support that; it supports (taking its allegations—many of
which are diametrically opposed to those in the _other_ recent employment
discrimination class-action against Google—as true for the sake of argument) a
claim of an imbalance _within_ Google, but not the existence of an imbalance
in society _caused by_ Google (whether through its dominance in some areas or
otherwise.)

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sintaxi
The law isn't the only way to solve this problem. Just because I agree there
is a problem doesn't mean I must support the blunt force of legislation to fix
it.

It stands to reason that outward imbalance begins with inward imbalance and
pointing to bias within the company culture is relevant when it comes to
validating why there might be an outward imbalance in how their products are
run.

Again, I'm responding to someone asking "what needs balance". If you don't
agree with me it might be more useful to provide a more compelling opinion
instead of picking my words apart.

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briankelly
I don't disagree with him, but the Soros-Murdoch media circus has only paved
the way for them and has likely done more damage to the American "freedom of
mind" to date. Faceboogle is just the new guard - better, faster, and
stronger.

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dbmikus
Regarding this statement,

> "There could be an alliance between authoritarian states and these large,
> data-rich IT monopolies that would bring together nascent systems of
> corporate surveillance with an already developed system of state-sponsored
> surveillance," he said. "This may well result in a web of totalitarian
> control the likes of which not even Aldous Huxley or George Orwell could
> have imagined."

It's possible, but the big US companies seem to have good intent. I'd be more
wary of big China tech for totalitarian control over information presented to
users and their interaction with the tech systems.

Having multiple giants with competing interests might help to combat the risk
that one of them turns to this.

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blacksmith_tb
Well, China already has pretty much the kind of collusion/cooperation being
suggested there - you'd want to be more than wary if you were in the PRC. I am
skeptical about the good intentions of US companies, but at least they tend to
want to make money off you, not see you imprisoned.

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dbmikus
I agree with you. I'm arguing that if Chinese companies are colluding with the
PRC, then having other international companies that provide those services
would provide options to choose ones that are not purposefully misleading
their users. I think that customers have at least enough of a preference for
transparency that if one option got too restrictive, they would switch to
another global provider of such tech.

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moneytalks
I'm not sure which is worse: unaccountable Big Tech or Big Tech 100%
accountable to governments.

I'd be more sympathetic if it seemed he wanted Big Tech less powerful, instead
of simply transferring control of that power to elected officials that are
cheaper to buy than controlling interests in Big Tech companies.

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KhanMahGretsch
OK, I'll take the downvote-heat on this one and offer a solitary "lol".

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klokoman
This looks more like the old dance that has always been done in all
industries. Rich and influencing people saying "we need to regulate the
giants", so the legislators regulate the market and the giants don't have to
face competition anymore but just give the lawyers a little more cash, maybe
for some bribes too when things get a little too messy.

This tactics is as old as the laws, we should recognize it instantly.

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aceon48
He's proving just how slimy he really is. Facebook and Google are some of the
few companies truly innovating and growing in the economy these days. The
BANKS and PRIVATE EQUITY are the real menaces to society, rent seekers who
take advantage of lobbying, bailouts, and interest free loans and other
shenanigans from the Federal Reserve.

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charlesism
I doubt anyone posting here know much about him, but everyone seems to have a
strong opinion. Far as I'm concerned, it lends some weight to his point.

I know everyone who reports for a Rupert Murdock or Mercer family property
seems to hate Soros. That's a bit fishy.

And the people who hate him the most are also some of the worst wingnuts on
the internet: Alex Jones, Daily Stormer, David Duke.

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to_bpr
Looks like all the money spent on his various “campaigns” hasn’t been felt to
be well spent.

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aceon48
Haha he's salty all of the troll farms and Facebook ads he's financed hasn't
paid off

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AnimalMuppet
Some might consider Soros a greater menace to society than Google...

