TECHLASH

A detailed, well-researched rundown of the runaway tech sector.

Wheeler is a former chairman of the Federal Communication Corporation and a successful venture capitalist, so when it comes to regulation of the tech giants that dominate the U.S. economy, he is a person whose voice should be heard. In this follow-up to From Gutenberg to Google, the author argues that the past few decades are similar to the Gilded Age following the Civil War, when powerful barons built enormous wealth by harnessing new technologies. They used their power to bury potential competitors and intimidate politicians, but they met their match in Theodore Roosevelt, who broke up the monopolies and established a regulatory system. Wheeler sees enough similarities to draw useful lessons for ways to leash the tech beasts, and he presents a host of proposals. A crucial move would be to ensure that competition can flourish through a rewriting of the outmoded regulations and laws to shift the emphasis from technical rules to behavioral standards. The liability rules for social media companies must be revised with the public interest, not corporations, in mind. Wheeler believes that there is currently a window of opportunity created by a high level of community distrust of big tech. This might be true, but it is by no means clear that the distrust translates into an organized impetus for increased regulation, which would mean a period of disruption. Moreover, the tech behemoths have invested billions in political protection. At the moment, there are no Rooseveltian figures on either side of the political spectrum. Wheeler’s ideas are important, and policymakers should read this book carefully. Finding the courage to act on it, however, does not seem likely.

With a firm sense of history and an eye on the future, Wheeler lays out a rock-solid plan for controlling the tech giants.