Ex-Google CEO Slams Social Media Platforms For Fostering Idiocy
Says Greater Regulation May Be Coming For Platforms Unless They Act Themselves Together
WEB DESK: Former Google Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Eric Schmidt warned at greater regulation of social media platforms in the years to come as they expand rapidly unruly.
Schmidt had left the board of Google’s parent Alphabet Inc. in 2019 but is still one of its largest shareholders.
During a virtual conference hosted by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, he criticized the misuse of social media and held it responsible for promoting idiocy. He lamented, “The context of social networks serving as amplifiers for idiots and crazy people is not what we intended.”
Former CEO expressed that more regulation may be coming for social networks in general unless the industry organized itself.
Ex-CEO also slammed the anti-trust lawsuit against Google by the United States (US) government and termed it ‘misplaced’. Schmidt argued that Google’s massive search business, the target of the U.S. Department of Justice’s anti-trust suit, continues to be so successful because users choose it over competitors.
He rejected the notion that more people use Google search engine because it uses its size to block smaller rivals. However, he admitted that the engine’s market share was not 100%.
Recently, Google’s YouTube has tried to decrease the spread of misinformation about Covid-19 and US politics over the last year.
Facebook and Twitter have also remained under fire in recent years for allowing racist and discriminatory messages to spread online.
