Reining In The Tech Giants

Published October 23, 2017 at 10:00 AM CDT

Congressional calls for more regulation, oversight of Facebook. Google, Amazon, Apple also getting scrutiny. Is it time?

The tech giants now who frame the workings of so much of our lives – Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple – have a range of reach beyond the industrial giants of the past. Into the most intimate corners of our lives. Across a huge spectrum of commerce, inquiry and communication. Facebook and Google are taking heat right now for running Russian ads in the 2016 campaign. Should they face tougher regulation? This hour, On Point: reining in – maybe – the tech giants. — Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Franklin Foer, national correspondent for The Atlantic and author of “ World Without Mind: The Existential Threat of Big Tech.” ( @FranklinFoer)

Nancy Scola, senior technology reporter for Politico. ( @nancyscola)

Adam Thierer, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center and author of “ Permissionless Innovation: The Continuing Case For Comprehensive Technological Freedom.” ( @AdamThierer)

From Tom’s Reading List:

Mercatus Center: Permissionless Innovation: The Continuing Case For Comprehensive Technological Freedom — “When public policy is shaped by ‘precautionary principle’ reasoning, it poses a serious threat to technological progress, economic entrepreneurialism, and long-run prosperity. By contrast, permissionless innovation has fueled the success of the Internet and much of the modern tech economy in recent years, and it is set to power the next great industrial revolution—if we let it.”

Excerpt of “World Without Mind: The Existential Threat of Big Tech” by Franklin Foer.

From WORLD WITHOUT MIND: The Existential Threat of Big Tech by Franklin Foer. Reprinted by arrangement of Penguin Press, part of the Penguin Random House company. Copyright (c) 2017 by Franklin Foer.