![]() ![]() ![]() Not only that, they are economic actors operating within a capitalist economy – a type of economy that imparts specific demands upon firms. Yet this common approach to these firms obscures the fact that they are first and foremost economic actors. The appeals to act better or more humanely are made in cultural and political terms. Similarly, when critics argue about how these firms should act, the arguments are often made in the language of values – of a Californian ideology, of libertarianism, of information wanting to be free. ![]() The uproar about fake news is only the most recent example, but the history of these firms is often laden with privacy violations and political lobbying. Yet what are these entities, and what sorts of commonalities do they share?įor the most part, critical reflection on these firms has focused on them as political and cultural actors. Facebook is blamed for perpetuating fake news and changing the American election outcome Amazon is radically transforming logistics and creating an automated jobless future Google is rapidly developing new artificial intelligence techniques that are already changing how we interact with technology around us while Uber sets out a new hyper-exploitative employment model. ![]() All around us, it seems that a nebulous series of entities called ‘platforms’ are increasingly shaping our world. ![]()
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