It used to that citizens could count on “the fifth estate”–journalists–to keep government honest. But no more. Just a short time ago, the independence of the media rested on the twin foundations of competition and professional standards. Both are rapidly being eroded. Taking their place are the algorithms of just five enormous tech companies (Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon), which increasingly determine the results of our web searches, the content of our news feeds, and the advertisements we see. The consequences could be dire, because democracies depend not on information per se, but credible information. Such is the analysis and warning issued by Alexander Klimburg in his new book entitled The Darkening Web: The War for Cyberspace.
Klimburg’s book is diagnostic, not prescriptive. But in general terms there can be only three remedies to the problem he identifies: user-driven change, government regulation (see Friday’s post), and a civic alternative. Time will tell if either the Big Five’s customers or government force change. In the meantime, we at EnCiv are working hard on an alternative: a platform that can not only provide citizens with credible information but also a place to discuss it constructively.
