Techlash

Techlash is the backlash towards big tech companies, like Google, Apple, and Amazon. The backlash is due to various reasons such as fears of surveillance, manipulation of public discourse, political influence, and effects on children's cognitive development.

As electronic devices and Internet technologies have ingrained themselves into the modern world, a growing number of activists, academics, and everyday users have become disillusioned with their influence. These concerned groups grew throughout the 2010s and formed the techlash movement in 2018.

While many of the criticized technologies were once hailed as "liberating," their "darker sides" have been brought further into the spotlight. Some of the most prominent criticisms include:

• Destruction of consumer privacy
• Exploitation of user's personal information for financial gain
• Manipulation of users, particularly on social media
• Promotion of social and physical isolation, and reduction of interpersonal communication skills
• Enabling of hate speech and extremist beliefs while promoting disinformation
• Manifestation of gun violence from violent media
• Politically biased against conservatives
• Destruction of job growth
• Negative impact on the environment
• Makes us less intelligent with too much reliance on tech

Some notable targets of the techlash movement include Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, and Twitter. These companies have developed various influential technologies and devices, including computers, smartphones, Internet technologies, social media platforms, AI devices, and digital communication systems.

While the techlash movement grew in the 2010s, there are still many big tech defenders who point to the various positive qualities of tech advancement (just look at the Covid pandemic and racial justice movement of 2020 to see the benefits of technology). This viewpoint primarily looks at these devices and technologies more as tools that must be used in moderation as humanity progresses to a more ideal state.