My concern is that Google has built a system in which for a large portion of the population it's the one who controls whether individuals are allowed access to the Internet (via Android devices dominating the low-end of the smartphone market and many people now using smartphones as their primary/only access), and in addition it controls one of the dominant online entertainment options. So, control of whether you can get online plus decisions about that which can be based on what you do while online.
Oh, and it's profit-driven so there's strong incentive to reduce costs, needs to do expensive content and comment moderation, has what could be classified as a toxic internal structure and a bunch of techies, which leads to automated moderation (e.g. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/12/youtube-moderation-b...). Because automated moderation can be scaled cheaply, doesn't need to be paid wages and benefits, doesn't complain about mental health, and if something goes wrong, you just point and say "it was a computer problem" and that blunts most of the complaints because who's even responsible at that point?
And while it has all this control it has limited options for punitive actions - Google can't really levy fines, its punishment options are effectively full or limited bans from some services (e.g. no commenting ability), temporary complete bans and permanent bans. If those bans can be circumvented easily they're kind of toothless, so with the information it has it can easily detect most bypass attempts.
So financial incentives to automate and reduce appeal options, plus limited enforcement options weighted to the heavy end, plus widespread use as an identity provider. There are probably a lot of people out there for whom a week in jail would be less of a long-term life disruption than loss of their Google account.
> My concern is that Google has built a system in which for a large portion of the population it's the one who controls whether individuals are allowed access to the Internet, and in addition it controls one of the dominant online entertainment options. So, control of whether you can get online plus decisions about that which can be based on what you do while online.
Neither Google Search, nor Android, nor Youtube require a Google account.
If you want to follow someone on Youtube, Microsoft Edge will let you do so, without an account. Because it's just a web property & not an app, this sort of thing is trivially easy to do.
> There are probably a lot of people out there for whom a week in jail would be less of a long-term life disruption than loss of their Google account.
This is really a great point, and I totally agree. It makes me wish for two things: as you say, a lot more use of temporary bans. AFAIK Google does not do this anywhere. This is a powerful warning & wake up, with less long term impact. Second, a "strikes" policy that has some forgiveness built in. Someone who is one offense away from a forever-ban is in a miserable spot for their whole life, and they should have some ability to get back into graces. That should be part of the system too.
Oh, and it's profit-driven so there's strong incentive to reduce costs, needs to do expensive content and comment moderation, has what could be classified as a toxic internal structure and a bunch of techies, which leads to automated moderation (e.g. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/12/youtube-moderation-b...). Because automated moderation can be scaled cheaply, doesn't need to be paid wages and benefits, doesn't complain about mental health, and if something goes wrong, you just point and say "it was a computer problem" and that blunts most of the complaints because who's even responsible at that point?
And while it has all this control it has limited options for punitive actions - Google can't really levy fines, its punishment options are effectively full or limited bans from some services (e.g. no commenting ability), temporary complete bans and permanent bans. If those bans can be circumvented easily they're kind of toothless, so with the information it has it can easily detect most bypass attempts.
So financial incentives to automate and reduce appeal options, plus limited enforcement options weighted to the heavy end, plus widespread use as an identity provider. There are probably a lot of people out there for whom a week in jail would be less of a long-term life disruption than loss of their Google account.