Tian-Yuan Zhao

Just watched The Social Dilemma. They told me it was good. Yet, I am fascinated. Even though they highlighted many parts of the dilemma, I am not convinced with what they proposed as regulation levers. No offense though. I know it is hard to make it fit in a 90-minutes movie. It feels like the history is repeating itself. Let's take the example of the Dutch East India Company, a.k.a. VOC. Throughout the 17th century, this private company got so big that they colonized Indonesia for two centuries. Why? Because they were pursuing their business model's interests. Indeed, capitalism was just born and society wasn't aware of its limits yet. They didn't know it could destabilize a whole society. When people figured it wasn't normal that a private company could control a whole country, they started to regulate. Turned out the VOC was nationalized. It didn't kill the problem right away. Yet, nowadays a private company cannot control a physical territory. And it might be for the best! So, what happens with 21st-century tech companies? They don't control territories with physical frontiers. But they do control people within these zones. Time has passed. Things are more complicated and diversified than before. Nationalizing might not be the solution. A radical change in their business model is not conceivable either. As said in the film, some fiscal regulations such as taxes on data collection and processing could work. Society agrees it is time for regulation. But, what can they be?