Did Big Tech Ruin the Internet? with Cory Doctorow

Did Big Tech Ruin the Internet? with Cory Doctorow

From The David McWilliams Podcast by David McWilliams & John Davis

March 31, 2026 · 40 min · Season 2026 · Episode 26

About this episode

The episode discusses the decline of the internet due to corporate influence and explores potential solutions and regulatory failures.

What happened to the internet? Why did the platforms that once felt useful, fun and liberating become manipulative, cluttered and hostile? In this episode, we talk to writer, activist and digital theorist Cory Doctorow, the man who coined the term enshittification , about how tech platforms decay: first they are good to users, then they are good to business customers, and finally they become good only to shareholders and executives. From Facebook and Instagram to Amazon, ad fraud, app lock-in, monopoly power and the slow death of the high street, this is a conversation about how digital capitalism corrodes the things we rely on. But it is also about what can be done, why regulators failed, how political will may be shifting, and why the fight against corporate power is suddenly back on the table.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Hosts: David McWilliams, John Davis

Guest: Cory Doctorow

Topics covered

  • Big Tech
  • Internet
  • digital capitalism
  • regulation
  • corporate power
  • manipulation
  • platform decay

Keywords

  • Big Tech
  • internet decline
  • Cory Doctorow
  • digital capitalism
  • platform manipulation
  • regulation
  • corporate power

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Facebook, Instagram, Amazon

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