Join Digital Rights Watch's Lizzie O'Shea, Guardian Australia Managing Director Dan Stinton and Peter Lewis from the Centre for Responsible Technology to take a deep dive into the relationship between technology and people.
This week we look at the ACCC prosecution of Google, Big Tech's global lobbying infrastructure and the Melbourne taxi driver suing Uber.
As promised last time, we are offering some reading for those who want to bone up in advance. Today’s discussion points
The People v Big Tech
ACCC Inquiry into Google this is great overview from Josh Taylor: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jul/28/why-is-the-accc-taking-google-to-court-and-what-could-it-mean-for-ads-on-the-internet
Border Big tech testimony to US Congress – This is a nice summary of the hearing: https://promarket.org/2020/07/31/top-10-admissions-from-tech-ceos-secured-at-the-antitrust-hearing/
And you can watch the whole 5.5 hours here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBFDQvIrWYM&feature=youtu.be
Tech-Turfing
A few pieces on how Big Tech is influencing government and policy here and in the US
Traditional lobbying: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/technology/virus-tech-lobbyists-gains.html
Soft diplomacy: Google and Facebook initiatives supporting news https://www.bandt.com.au/google-pours-55-5m-into-journalism/
Astro-turfing (supporting front advocacy organisations) https://www.theverge.com/interface/2020/6/11/21286558/antitrust-astroturfing-facebook-google-amazon-american-edge
And this from last week’s Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jul/29/us-thinktank-linked-to-google-donations-criticised-problematic-accc-digital-media-inquiry
Uber Class Action
Finally, an overview of the Uber business model https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2019/05/ubers-path-of-destruction/