Two of the world’s largest corporations, American tech giants Apple and Google, are actively censoring information disseminated to the public. That’s according to Pavel Durov, the Russian founder of the Telegram Messenger app.
“We generally assume that the world is becoming a better place every year. But when it comes to individual freedoms, the opposite is true. Most studies show humanity is now less free than several years ago,” with these words Durov started his post.
He stated that nowadays, Apple and Google censor information and apps on phones while Visa and Mastercard limit what goods and services people can pay for. Pavel claimed that every year people give up more power and control over their lives to a handful of unaccountable corporate executives they didn’t elect.
“Most of us willingly carry tracking devices – our phones – and allow corporations to use our private data to target us with content that keeps us distracted with low-quality entertainment. Unlike 20 years ago, we are now surrounded by surveillance cameras, which in countries like China use AI to make sure nobody can hide,” said Durov.
He reminded that in 2017, China overtook the US as the largest economy in the world by purchasing power and showing the world that individual freedoms are not required for economic development. In his opinion, this caused the appearance of limitations of essential human rights such as freedom of speech, movement, and assembly.
“The most active and creative minds of our generation are too busy playing in the rapidly shrinking sandbox called “free enterprise” or producing digital content to keep everyone else glued to their devices for longer,” stresses Durov.
All this made him think about the future of humanity in a rather negative way. He wondered what will become the legacy of the current generation – to go down in history as those who let free societies turn into dystopian nightmares or to be remembered as those who defended the freedoms that previous generations fought so hard to win.
Mainland, 01.09.2021
Source: Ru-Main