4 Steps Towards a Better Internet
I believe the internet today is pretty much broken — by behavioral tracking, by market concentration, by walled gardens. And while I caution against quick technological fixes as attempts…
Category: policy
Some thoughts after Mercator Forum
I’m on my way back home from Essen where I attended Mercator Forum, the foundation’s annual convening of its stakeholders, communities and grantee partners. This year it was…
Are social platforms a bit like fossil energy after all?
I never subscribed to narrative that Data is the New Oil — i.e. it’s highly valuable and a tradable commodity. Nor that it’s like oil in that it…
Thoughts on Tracking and Targeting
Over on Threads I had an exchange about targeted ads: are they better than generic ads? Is ad tracking really bad? I see some real, relevant and big…
Big Tech spending in Brussels is insane…
..and by insane, I mean insanely small compared to its impact. LobbyControl and Corporate Europe Observatory just published a great new report on Big Tech lobby spending. And…
There is no Digital Public Space
There is no digital public space. It simply does not currently exist. Not in any real sense of the word. Whenever I read that Twitter or Facebook want…
Tech at the Center
In recent conversations, we repeatedly touched on the point that in some of the biggest societal challenges — specifically ongoing threats to democracy — tech appears to be…