Which problems with web centralization ?
Some digital services became essential to our personal or professional lives.
The centralization of this services in the hand of too few actors give them great power with small democratic control.
Question
Imagine some issues related to information power.
Indice
In 2015, six of the 10 websites in Myanmar getting the most engagement on Facebook were from legitimate media, according to data from CrowdTangle, a Facebook-run tool. A year later, Facebook (which recently rebranded to Meta) offered global access to Instant Articles, a program publishers could use to monetize their content.
One year after that rollout, legitimate publishers accounted for only two of the top 10 publishers on Facebook in Myanmar. By 2018, they accounted for zero. All the engagement had instead gone to fake news and clickbait websites. In a country where Facebook is synonymous with the internet, the low-grade content overwhelmed other information sources.
Karen Hao, How Facebook and Google fund global misinformation, MIT Technology Review, November 20, 2021. https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/11/20/1039076/facebook-google-disinformation-clickbait/
Question
Imagine some issues related to political power.
Indice
Le Parti Pirate vient de saisir le CSA après avoir été banni de Twitch pendant 48 heures à la demande de BFMTV. Sa faute ? La reprise de l'émission « 2022 le débat de la droite » de la chaîne d'Altice. Quand celle-ci dénonce une atteinte à ses droits, le PP oppose le nécessaire partage des débats politiques d'intérêt général. Next inpact diffuse la lettre de saisine.
Marc Rees, Censuré sur Twitch à la demande de BFMTV, le Parti Pirate saisit le CSA, Novembre 22, 2021. https://www.nextinpact.com/article/48938/censure-sur-twitch-a-demande-bfmtv-parti-pirate-saisit-csa
Question
Imagine some issues related to economic power
Indice
The online giant gives a leg up to hundreds of house brand and exclusive products that most people don't know are connected to Amazon.
Adrianne Jeffries, Leon Yin. Amazon Puts Its Own “Brands” First Above Better-Rated Products, October 14, 2021. https://themarkup.org/amazons-advantage/2021/10/14/amazon-puts-its-own-brands-first-above-better-rated-products#amazon-mainstory-brand-quiz (found on standblog.org)