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  • Published: 7 November 2019
  • ISBN: 9780241404300
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 368

Don't Be Evil

The Case Against Big Tech




A TIMES CURRENT AFFAIRS BOOK OF THE YEAR. The biggest business story of our time: the threat that Big Tech poses to our democracies and economies

Google and Facebook receive 90% of the world's news advertising spend. Amazon takes half of all e-commerce in the US. Google and Apple operating systems run on all but 1% of cell phones globally. And 80% of corporate wealth is now held by 10% of companies - the digital titans. How did these once-idealistic and innovative companies come to manipulate elections, violate our privacy and pose a threat to the fabric of our democracy?

Through her skilled reporting and unparalleled access, Rana Foroohar reveals the true extent to which the 'FAANG's (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google) crush or absorb competitors, hijack our personal data and mental space and offshore their exorbitant profits. What's more, she shows how these threats to our democracies, livelihoods and minds are all intertwined. Yet Foroohar also lays out a plan for how we can resist, creating a framework that fosters innovation while protecting us from the dark side of digital technology.

  • Published: 7 November 2019
  • ISBN: 9780241404300
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 368

About the author

Rana Foroohar

RANA FOROOHAR is an assistant managing editor and columnist at Time magazine, reaching a readership of 50 million in both print and digital editions. Foroohar also speaks to hundreds of millions of television news viewers around the world every week as CNN’s global economic analyst. She has her own weekly radio show, Money Talking, on New York City’s public radio station WNYC, and is a frequent commentator on NPR, as well as CBS, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, and the BBC. She has appeared numerous times on programs such as Real Time with Bill Maher, Face the Nation, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Fareed Zakaria GPS, and MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

Prior to coming to Time, Foroohar spent thirteen years at Newsweek as an economic and foreign affairs editor. She has received awards and fellowships from institutions such as the German Marshall Fund, the Johns Hopkins School of International Affairs, the East-West Center, and the Newswomen’s Club of New York (best columnist, 2013). She is also a frequent speaker to high-level corporate and academic audiences.

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Praise for Don't Be Evil

Rana Foroohar is a savvy and wise commentator and a keen observer of the global economy. This book goes beyond the economic problems and examines the broader implications for society of the untrammeled and under regulated Silicon Valley companies. She demonstrates that while the creed 'don't be evil' may have initially inspired the Silicon Valley giants, its principle has long been left behind

Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate in Economics

We are most fortunate to have Foroohar's laser vision and trenchant business analysis turned on the tech giants and the gluttonous anti-democratic surveillance capitalism that is their most far-reaching innovation. A crucial contribution to the growing debate.

Shoshana Zuboff, author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism and Professor Emerita, Harvard Business School

Rana Foroohar's urgent message: 'Yes, we really are living in the Matrix,' and it's time to rise up and resist our algorithmic overlords. This book shows us how.

Cathy O'Neil, author of Weapons of Math Destruction and CEO of ORCAA

A masterful critique of the tech giants that now dominate our world . . . The great thing about her book is that it breaks the mesmerising spell that the tech giants seem to have cast upon governments, mass media and users everywhere

John Naughton, Observer, 'Book of the Week'

Frightening . . . a readable and well-marshalled indictment of the sins of these new corporate empires.

James Marriott, The Times

Powerful

Best Business Books of the Year, Sunday Times

An insightful and powerfully argued investigation into the murky world of 'Big Tech' and its impact on our lives.

Daily Mail