China Has Pioneered a Law To Empower People Over Algorithms
It’s unprecedented in the world
China has just made effective the first law of this kind in history.
Algorithms define our realities. They manipulate our attention and waste our time. We think we don’t want to live without them but end up looking for ways to fight against the strong urge to scroll down on our phones. Tech companies have absolute power over them and don’t respond to the increasingly louder voices asking to revert these unescapable digital prisons.
Algorithms should be subjected to the same rules that govern other new technologies, but the big tech refuses to be held accountable or have its all-important algorithms externally audited.
Now, China has decided to turn the tides. On March 1st they activated a law that will allow users to turn off algorithm recommendations completely, among other unprecedented measures to give people more power over tech. Imagine a world in which Facebook couldn’t show you what it wanted — optimized to keep you engaged — but what you wanted or needed.
That world could soon be our world.
