Where is the Justice?

Seeing Big Tech's Role in this Assassination Attempt

In an era where information spreads faster than ever, where headlines scream for our attention, and where the amount of clicks a headline can garner dictates what we see, one question looms large: where is the justice for our broken and fractured people?

Who has skin in the game to acknowledge their role in the lives lost, and in critical care, after the shooting at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania?

Consider this: the business model of mainstream media is driven by technology platforms. These platforms, through algorithms and targeted advertising, determine if a news publisher is going to generate enough clicks to make enough money this month to cover its journalists’ paychecks.

It’s our technology platforms that control how and what news and information reaches us. And the ‘success’ of that information that reaches us depends on engagement metrics—your clicks, your likes, your data.

Advancements in technology were supposed to democratize information and to promote understanding. Instead, we have more information than ever and we feel less informed.

Google’s status as the world’s largest advertising company plays a central role in this problem.

What does this mean for society?

As long as our data and our eyeballs are the currency that drives profit, we will be more polarized and divided and less informed. The sky is the limit on how angry and accusing we can become.

When outrage generates revenue, the very fabric of our society is at stake.

What if we could hold our technology platforms accountable for their abusive business model and take back control?

With today’s technological advances, we can be an educated populace immune to being yo-yo’d by sensationalized headlines and articles.

Assassination attempts and political violence are not new phenomena in American society. However, our advancements in technology and the way we access information should be contributing to reducing extremism, not fueling it.

So, how do we seek justice?

Justice lies in holding big tech accountable for their role in shaping public discourse, by leaving Google behind and moving to an alternative. An alternative that doesn’t have an agenda to track, surveil and censor content with which it disagrees.

Google is too big to pivot toward a new business model. But we can still demand justice. We must shift our default usage to better platforms that have the goal of human flourishing, instead of using human emotions for profit.

The intersection of technology and access to quality information is a pivotal battleground for the future of a healthy society. The choices we make today— as consumers —will determine whether justice prevails or whether we keep feeding the giant that drives division and distrust.

It's time to ask yourself: are you ready to be part of the solution? The answer may well shape the world we leave for future generations.

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