In short: The Internet needs to “free” itself from the Silicon Valley’s grip and eliminate any central gatekeepers that could control large information flows, according to Mick Hagen, CEO of decentralized app platform Mainframe. In an interview with AndroidHeadlines, the executive chimed in on the recent debate about online censorship, particularly the harsh criticism President Trump has been throwing Google’s way over the last several weeks, asserting that there’s credible “evidence of algorithmic or human biases” existing among the tech elite. “We need to move away from a system that enables tech giants to potentially single-handedly control the debate; because whatever voice or freedom they grant us today could be gone tomorrow,” Mr. Hagen concluded.
Background: The White House has been extremely aggressive in its recent efforts to criticize Google’s alleged censorship, having also accused Twitter of having a left-leaning bias and consequently silencing conservative voices on the Internet. President Trump suggested the Silicon Valley’s inclination to provide disproportional exposure to liberal worldviews through its services used by the majority of the planet constitutes meddling in the U.S. democratic process, threatening federal investigations over the matter. Google strongly denied the notion, maintaining that Search and all of its other solutions have been built without any political agenda. Even if Google was to practice open censorship, it’s within its rights to do so as a private company unburdened by the First Amendment, legal experts pointed out in the past. The Senate Intelligence Committee wanted to grill Google on the matter earlier this month as part of an election security hearing but the firm’s top officials refused to attend the thereof, prompting harsh criticism from several high-ranking lawmakers.
Impact: Regardless of the effectiveness and degree of impartiality of Google Search, calls for heavier regulations on the Silicon Valley are now gaining momentum in the U.S. and many industry watchers from both sides of the political spectrum are now expressing skepticism about how objective the company’s services truly are. “Bad ideas are beaten by better ideas, not by trying to shut them down,” Mr. Hagen said, suggesting all political ideas should be given equal representation on the Internet.