Episode #50 - Loi on Facebook, Justice and Data as the New Oil

In this episode I talk to Michele Loi. Michele is a political philosopher turned bioethicist turned digital ethicist. He is currently (2017-2020) working on two interdisciplinary projects, one of which is about the ethical implications of big data at the University of Zurich. In the past, he developed an ethical framework of governance for the Swiss MIDATA cooperative (2016). He is interested in bringing insights from ethics and political philosophy to bear on big data, proposing more ethical forms of institutional organization, firm behavior, and legal-political arrangements concerning data. We talk about how you can use Rawls's theory of justice to evaluate the role of dominant tech platforms (particularly Facebook) in modern life. You download the show here or listen below. You can also subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher (the RSS feed is here). Show Notes0:00 - Introduction1:29 - Why use Rawls to assess data platforms?2:58 - Does the analogy between data and oil hold up to scrutiny?7:04 - The First Key Idea: Rawls's Basic Social Structures11:20 - The Second Key Idea: Dominant Tech Platforms as Basic Social Structures15:02 - Is Facebook a Dominant Tech Platform?19:58 - How Zuckerberg's recent memo highlights Facebook's status as a basic social structure23:10 - A brief primer on Rawls's two principles of justice29:18 - Dominant tech platforms and respect for the basic liberties (particularly free speech)36:48 - Facebook: Media Company or Nudging Platform? Does it matter from the perspective of justice?41:43 - Why Facebook might have a duty to ensure that we don't get trapped in a filter bubble44:32 - Is it fair to impose such a duty on Facebook as a private enterprise?51:18 - Would it be practically difficult for Facebook to fulfil this duty?53:02 - Is data-mining and monetisation exploitative?56:14 - Is it possible to explore other economic models for the data economy?59:44 - Can regulatory frameworks (e.g. the GDPR) incentivise alternative business models?1:01:50 - Is there hope for the future?  Relevant LinksMichele on TwitterMichele on Research Gate'If data is the new oil, when is the extraction of value from data unjust?' by Loi and Dehaye'Technological Unemployment and Human Disenhancement' by Michele Loi'The Digital Phenotype: A Philosophical and Ethical Exploration' by Michele Loi'A Blueprint for content governance and enforcement' by Mark Zuckerberg'Should libertarians hate the internet? A Nozickian Argument Against Social Networks' by John DanaherJohn Rawls's Two Principles of Justice, explained   #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ Subscribe to the newsletter