Rethink examines emerging issues in politics, society, economics, technology and the UK's place in the world, and considers how we might approach them differently. We look at the latest thinking and research and discuss new ideas that might make the world a better place.

In this episode, we look at "Enshittification", or to put it more politely - the problem of internet platform decay.

Facebook used to be about posts from your friends, but its feed now also includes groups, adverts, reels, and threads posts. Trying to work out if the Amazon product you want is any good can be tricky, because sellers can pay for their product to appear higher in your list of results. Search engines are not immune; German researchers have found that Google, Bing and Duck Duck Go are prone to spam marketing, making it more difficult to find what you want.

There's no ill-intent behind this: platform decay is a side-effect of the way these businesses work. So what can governments and individuals do, to try to get a better internet for everyone?

Presenter: Ben Ansell

Contributors: