People now engage, shop, and absorb knowledge differently, thanks to the digital age. But its explosive expansion has also revealed important weaknesses, including increasing fraud, data leaks, and unbridled monopolistic behavior. Public confidence in Big Tech keeps declining as unethical behavior and privacy abuses take the front stage. A pioneering voice in digital responsibility, Scott Cleland has long cautioned about these institutional problems and provided a road map for transformation anchored in his great knowledge.
Cleland’s career consists of decades of action and thought leadership. As Precursor® LLC’s Founder and CEO, he has regularly predicted technology changes and their unexpected results. His creative ideas, like Macrointernetics®, offer means to negotiate the complexity of the internet’s influence on society. Still a classic indictment of Big Tech’s monopolistic practices, his book Search and Destroy: Why You Can’t Trust Google Inc.
Cleland has often testified before Congress, highlighting regulatory flaws allowing tech behemoths to avoid responsibility. Additionally, he co-founded the Investorside Research Association, which helped Sarbanes-Oxley laws to reduce corporate conflicts of interest to be passed.
“Big Tech profits from what it doesn’t pay for—privacy, security, and accountability,” Cleland said. He contends that this lack of control results in externalities carried by society at large. According to Cleland’s studies, U.S. internet policies subsidize monopolistic activities that limit innovation and damage consumers, therefore hiding public costs of over $trillion.
These structural problems transcend only economics. Cleland’s work at the Restore Us Institute emphasizes how poor internet control compromises national security, civil liberties, and democracy. His observations reveal a troubling trend: regulatory capture, in which tech businesses shape laws to serve their own needs, therefore rendering people exposed.
Recent occurrences highlight the need for Cleland’s warnings. A significant data hack revealing millions of personal data in 2023 highlights the dangers of insufficient cybersecurity policies. As governments struggle with their unbridled power, platforms like Google and Meta are being examined worldwide for antitrust violations. These illustrations show the need for the practical remedies Cleland has supported.
Among Cleland’s main recommendations is sunsetting Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which would shield digital businesses from legal responsibility for user material. “Accountability has to apply everywhere, online and offline,” he says. This idea, he contends, will force platforms to give user safety and transparency a top priority.
Research and Congressional testimony from Cleland point to a clear road ahead. Emphasizing three pillars of digital responsibility, independent audits, and public reporting helps hold businesses accountable for their activities using clear oversight. Closing legal gaps and disallowing digital companies to take advantage of consumers and avoid responsibilities will help create equitable regulation. Restoring personal data control to people and guaranteeing fair competition in digital markets would help to ensure rights.
These steps fit his larger goal of bringing digital terrain back under integrity. Cleland thinks that reform is feasible and required to shield society from the negative effects of unbridled technology. Cleland’s career is distinguished by public good dedication and vision. Twice named as Institutional Investor’s top independent telecom analyst, he has regularly been ahead of the curve. His early warnings on Google’s monopolistic behavior and the ethical issues raised by cryptocurrencies proved correct. His campaigning has influenced important laws and elevated questions of digital responsibility to the front stage in public debate. Most recently, Cleland began publishing in The ProvenPrecursor Substack newsletter, his fourth policy advocacy initiative for those seeking balanced insights on unchecked technology.
Accountability still presents the most urgent problem as the digital age develops. Emphasizing that real innovation cannot exist without accountability, Cleland’s observations help one to solve these systematic defects. Higher rules for IT businesses will help society build a digital environment honoring privacy, advancing justice, and defending democracy.
Cleland emphasizes, “The internet was created on ideas of openness and trust. Restoring those values is not only desirable but also very necessary.”
Published by Anne C.
