Pluralistic: Technocarcinization (01 Jul 2026)
9 hours ago
- Technocarcinization describes how tech companies evolve into Facebook-like entities with maximum surveillance and control.
- A 2×2 grid with axes of surveillance and control categorizes platforms: Google (high surveillance, low control), Apple (low surveillance, high control), Facebook (high both), and FOSS (low both).
- Apple and Google are drifting into Facebook's quadrant: Apple now spies on users and blocks apps like ICE Block, while Google implements control-freak measures (ad-blocker restrictions, AI search summaries, Android lockdown).
- The driver of technocarcinization is the policy environment that rewards enshittification, not just individual personalities or company leadership.
- The solution is to switch to free and open source software (FOSS), which remains in the low-surveillance/low-control quadrant, especially by reviving old computers with Linux.
- Other links include items on AI bubble risks, decarbonization beyond electrification, Ireland's role as Big Tech's lapdog, and a Supreme Court ruling on EU-US data transfers.