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âSometimes a term is so apt, its meaning so clear and so relevant to our circumstances, that it becomes more than just a useful buzzword and grows to define an entire moment,â the columnist Kyle Chayka writes, in a review of Cory Doctorowâs book âEnshittification.â Doctorow, a prolific tech writer, is a co-founder of the tech blog Boing Boing, and an activist for online civil liberties with the Electronic Frontier Foundationâso he knows whereof he speaks. He argues that the phenomenon of tech platforms seemingly getting worse for users is not a matter of perception but a business strategy. For example, âthe Google-D.O.J. antitrust trial last year surfaced all these memos about a fight about making Google Search worse,â Doctorow explains, in a conversation with Chayka. A Google executive had suggested that, instead of displaying perfectly prioritized results on the first search attempt, âwhat if we make it so that you got to search two or three times, and then, every time, we got to show you ads?â But, Doctorow argues, there is hope for a better future, if we can resist complacency. Prominent internet platforms all depend on forms of âsurveillanceâ of their users. âThe coalition [against this] is so big, and it crosses so many political lines,â Doctorow says, âthat if we could just make it illegal to spy on people, we could solve so many problems.â
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