“Law! What do I care about the law? Ain’t I got the power?”
Cornelius Vanderbilt, the 19th century steamship and railroad titan for whom the modern-day use of the term “robber baron” was coined, was transparent in his business model: kill the competition. His entrepreneurial spirit and predatory tactics made him the richest man in America, and having established himself at the top, he wasn’t about to be usurped.
Fast forward to today and you wouldn’t catch the new tech ‘captains of industry’ talking so brazenly about being above the law – but I can’t help thinking Vanderbilt’s immortal words are apt.
In just a few short years the tech giants have gone from upstart agents of digital democracy, connecting the world through their free platforms, to monopolistic fat cat enablers of abuse.
Where once politicians were falling over themselves to hang out with tech’s boy billionaires, they’re now eager to be seen castigating them for their failure to fix up – to protect children from would-be abusers, to stop hosting terrorist propaganda, to prevent fake news and hate speech, halt hacking, safeguard our data, and, of course, to pay more tax.
The likes of Google, Facebook and Amazon are facing the sort of scrutiny that would ordinarily send corporate executives into a tailspin. And yet, despite issuing apologies and pledging to do better, they have shown almost no commitment to real change.
How do the tech titans get away with it? Well, ain’t they got the power?
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
Subscribe