Headline Dec. 06/ ''' TECH GIANTS TOOT '''

''' TECH GIANTS TOOT '''

100 %  -*FOR SURE*, 100  percent ARAB SPRINGS AND ALL  -all those serious models,  *full of sound and fury and sacrifices*- 

Global media centric. And in the  very, very end,   towards the very end,  right up to now,  Arab Spring signified supreme greatness but achieved nothing. 

With Almighty God's will  -only one, and one only organization, that will change and help build a better world for the future generations : 

The World Students Society, for every single subject in the world.

TOTALLY Unlike !WOW! -the Tech giants once saviors, are now viewed as master and growing threats. 

Their concentration of authority and missteps are creating a terrible backlash, illuminates David Streitfeld.

*Merium, Rabo, Haleema,  Saima, Eman, Sarah, Lakhshmi, Eman, Seher, Dantini*, Juniper/Japan,  Aqsa : Armeen, Dee, Zilli and little angels : Maynah, Maria, Haanyia and Merium : 

 AT THE START of the decade,  the  Arab Spring  blossomed with the help of  social media. 

That is the sort of story the tech industry loves to tell about itself :  *it is bringing freedom, enlightenment and a better future for all mankind.     

Mark Zuckerberg, the  Facebook co-founder, proclaimed that this was why his social network existed. 

In a 2012 manifesto for investors, he said  Facebook was a tool to create :

''A more honest and transparent dialogue around government.''  The result, he said, would be ''better solutions in some of the biggest  problems of our time.'' 

Now tech companies are under fire for creating problems instead of solving them. At top of the list is  Russian interference in the United States presidential election last year.

Social media might have originally promised liberation, but it proved an even more useful tool for  stoking anger. 

The manipulation was an efficient and so well-diagnosed that the companies themselves barely noticed it was happening.

The election is far from the only area of concern.

UBER'S RELATIONSHIPS with cities tend to begin or end in war. Smaller markets experience the company as a powerful invading force-

Often a welcome one. The company's model easily outclasses  and undercuts provincial competitors, conscripting local cabbies and enlisting new drivers.

Flimsy taxi regulations backed by weak municipal governments are quickly overwhelmed by the multi-billion-dollar company and its armies of lawyers and lobbyists and their briefcases full of case studies and legislative suggestions.

But in larger markets with bigger taxi companies, municipal governments bristle at the company's deep, evident disdain for their authority  -and they're capable of striking back.

Last month, in a sudden show of force, London told Uber that its license to operate in the city wouldn't be renewed.

The city's transit authority cited a number of reasons for its actions : Uber's approach to reporting crimes; its background check policies; its aggressive attempts to thwart regulations;  and general appeals to ''public safety''  and   ''corporate responsibility.''  

UBER  made a show of contrition, but it also mobilized its drivers and users, starting a petition accusing London of having  ''given in to a small number of people who want to restrict consumer choice.'' of threatening-

The livelihoods of ten thousands of its workers and of depriving millions of customers. The effort quickly garnered more than 800,000 signatures. 

London's threat to Uber is clearly existential : Being shut out pf one of its largest markets is terrible for business and would be a dangerous precedent for the company as it tries to expand around the globe.

But governments similarly perceive in Uber a broader challenge to their legitimacy. Uber does not so much do business in cities as unilaterally install itself as infrastructure.

Its incompatibilities with local regulations or national employment law are presented a neither features nor bugs but as evidence of evolution and progress.

It identifies, vets and credentials drivers. It fields complaints and arbitrate disputes. It lets riders rate drivers and vice versa, creating a sort of customer-service-centric accountability.

The same week Uber  was given notice in London, Mark Zuckerberg sat down in front of a camera in Menlo Park, Calif.

His desaturated earth-tone palette was matched color for color by his office in the background,  as if to provide camouflage.

Indeed, it was easy to miss the sheer range and strangeness of what he was there to say:

''I care deeply about the  democratic process and protecting its integrity,'' he said. ''The integrity of our elections is fundamental to democracy around the world.''

FACEBOOK had recently disclosed that it believed the  Russians  state actors purchased political ads during the  2016 election; more broadly, it had been accused of allowing disinformation and misinformation to thrive on its platform.

Among the measures that  Mr. Zuckerberg  said his company would take included expanding  ''partnerships''  with election commissions around the world and  ''working proactively to strengthen the democratic process.''

Most striking, coming  from the chief executive of a publicly traded American  social-media  company, was this line :

''We have been working to ensure the integrity of the German elections this weekend.''

Social-media companies are not new to defending themselves in ideological terms -they're just not used to doing it on their home turf.

The Honor and Serving of the latest ''Operations and Plans'' on Life and Living continues. 

With respectful dedication to the Parents, Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all  on !WOW! -the World Students Society and Twitter-!E-WOW!  -the Ecosystem 2011:

''' Apps & Naps'''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless