Tech Critic: Tech Giants Should Be Regulated By FCC

An acclaimed critic of technology, economics, and culture, Nicholas Carr, proposes that tech giants be  licensed as broadcasters and regulated.

Nicholas Carr

The Wall Street Journal over the weekend published an op-ed written by Carr.  "A hundred years ago, the arrival of radio broadcasting brought an upheaval similar to the one we face today. Suddenly, a single voice could speak to all Americans at once, in their kitchens and living rooms. Recognizing the new medium’s power to shape thoughts and stir emotions, people worried about misinformation, media bias, information monopolies, and an erosion of civility and prudence".

Carr explains the government responded by convening conferences, under the auspices of the Commerce Department, that brought together lawmakers, engineers, radio executives and representatives of the listening public. The wide-ranging discussions led to landmark legislation: the Radio Act of 1927 and the Communications Act of 1934.

"These laws defined broadcasting as a privilege, not a right. They required radio stations (and, later, television stations) to operate in ways that furthered not just their own private interests but also 'the public interest, convenience, and necessity'." Broadcasters that ignored the strictures risked losing their licenses.

He writes like radio and TV stations, social media companies have a civic responsibility.

"If we’re to solve today’s problems with social media, we first need to acknowledge that companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter are not technology companies, as they like to present themselves. They’re broadcasters. Indeed, thanks to the omnipresence of smartphones and media apps, they’re probably the most influential broadcasters the world has ever known.

"The Communications Decency Act of 1996 included a provision, known as Section 230, that has up to now prevented social media companies from being held liable for the material they circulate. When that law passed, no one knew that a small number of big companies would come to wield control over much of the news and information that flows through online channels. It wasn’t clear that the internet would become a broadcasting medium."

Carr concludes, "Now that that is clear, often painfully so, Section 230 needs to be repealed>"