That Was The Week

That Was The Week 2021, #5

With Andrew Keen and Keith Teare

There is not a problem to solve. Section 230 already provides the right balance. It allows me to publish on your platform without you becoming liable. It allows you to take down what I post if you have a solid enough reason. It does not expect you to scrutinise everything published. It works.

That Was The Week 2021, #4

That Was The Week 2021, #3

This week’s That Was The Week has an obvious theme — disruption. The news of Gamestop’s crazy stock — growing by hundreds of per cent due to a Reddit group r\WallStreetBets — is evidence enough. But the out of control stock is only one story.

That Was The Week 2021, #2

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

That Was The Week 2021 - #1

Keith Teare and Andrew Keen on the week in tech

Commercial interests owning platforms used by the majority of society as a modern printing press are no more suited to deciding what is allowed to be published than the first printing press owners were suited to deciding what newspapers were allowed to print.

That Was The Week #48

The last episode of 2020. Enjoy. 

The Federal Trade Commission and 48 State Attorney Generals filed a suit against Facebook on Wednesday this week. It alleges that Facebook, through its acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp, exhibited antitrust behaviour.

That Was The Week #47

Stewart Butterfield, the Slack founder and Bret Taylor, Chief Product Officer at Salesforce, represent a formidable team. Together with Salesforce's market weight and sales energy they are likely to play a major role in helping to evolve the operating system that enterprises run on.

That Was The Week #46

Capitalism cannot innovate without investing. So Venture does not deform capitalism. It enables it.

The State, Freedom and Big Tech in the Spotlight

That Was The Week #45

The astonishment at Mark Zuckerberg stating that Steve Bannon's calls to murder various people do not break Facebook's rules enough to ban him drew the eyes of many of the headline writers.

That Was The Week #44

I usually do not like to talk about politics in That Was The Week. After all, tech and politics are very different worlds, and most of us do not determine our tech preferences based on politics.

That said, the rise of massive corporations valued over $1 trillion and the calls from all sides of the political spectrum for anti-trust measures against them make it hard to ignore politics in tech.

As we say goodbye (good riddance) to President Trump, and hello (phew) to President-Elect Biden, it is worth reflecting on how it will change the landscape in Silicon Valley. The consensus is well summed up in this week's News of the Week section dedicated to the topic.