It was just two days ago I was actually naive enough to wonder why tech institutions like Google, Microsoft etc which we call ''big tech'' are allowed to get away with hosting scamming/phishing apps which so many crypto users fell victim to on their platform and basically exempt themselves from any responsibility without any backlash from the government. The core question was 'just maybe when it comes to apps linked to financial institutions i.e. banking and crypto apps, there should be a KYC and the authorities' focus should be on.....you know, the app stores and who they allow to place those high risk apps associated with financial institutions on their platform?'
Well, turns out that as I was asking, I was being answered by actual leaks in which Western big tech oligarchs have been influencing and shaping government laws and policies. And yes, when a small specific group of people can exercise that much influence over a country and its laws for their own benefit, this is defined as ''oligarchy''. But don't take my word for it: Oligarchy, government by the few, especially despotic power exercised by a small and privileged group for corrupt or selfish purposes. Oligarchies in which members of the ruling group are wealthy or exercise their power through their wealth are known as plutocracies. Aristotle used the term oligarchia to designate the rule of the few when it was exercised not by the best but by bad persons unjustly...Most classic oligarchies have resulted when governing elites were recruited exclusively from a ruling caste.
If this definition does not mirror what these big tech have been exposed doing, I don't know what does. Oh, and if you are wondering why the article itself does not talk of oligarchy, that's because that term is only reserved for non-friendly nations such as a 'Chinese oligarch' or a 'Russian oligarch', in friendly nations, they are simply called ''lobbyists'': Insider reviewed a set of emails sent between USTR members and lobbyists from Google and Amazon from April 2022 to May 2023...The emails highlight what Demand Progress calls a "coziness" between Big Tech and trade officials. Some emails show close ties between USTR officials and former colleagues who now work in Big Tech, which critics say gives tech companies immediate and direct access to policymakers that civil society groups don't enjoy....Emails show trade officials reaching out to tech lobbyists for guidance on issues, updating them on the status of bills, and even giving them a heads-up on discussions held behind closed doors....Several former USTR employees went on to work as lobbyists on behalf of Amazon and Google.
It then goes on to give several real world examples about how they were in contact with government officials regarding laws in Brazil and Canada that would disadvantage US big tech.
Well now, wasn't that the tangible evidence wake up call? I mean, we all had our suspicions as to why these wealthy institutions such as banks or big tech can get away with so much more smaller institutions or civil society groups can't, but this is just down right conniving with one another. If they are even in contact with their own government, no scratch that, if they are even hiring former government employees and using them for their government official contacts and are thus literally forming a small governing faction that even influences government officials on foreign laws, what on earth makes you think their own country's laws, or lack thereof in case of phishing apps, are not shaped by them?
And remember, Google, Apple, Microsoft and other app platforms all have this problem and would all be held accountable if such a law came about. Can't push accountability on e.g. Microsoft and leave Google out now can you? So it's certain that these big tech know they are on the same side when it comes to this and are despite being competitors, bundling their strength and resources to shape these type of laws. That my friend, is a lot of money and (former) government officials focusing on one topic.
