who will take on the 21st century technology and media monopolies (written by Justin Anderson) + online gaming and gender:

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Notes Maria:

Notes Emma:

• Talk about the story of the online article (the story of the harassment of Leena van Devente playing online)

“As a game developer, Van Deventer argues that improving reporting mechanisms would be insufficient alone, and that cultural change has to be built into games from their inception.”

“focusing on culture is key – starting with the way games are marketed and sold”

• Since 1970, antitrust policies of medias have focused on short-term interests of the consumers: they lowered the prices of its services to keep consumers happy so they can maintain a long-term consumer protection

 

• “If it’s free, you are a product”. In fact, big media corporations don’t gain interests from its consumers. We can relate this idea with the 5 filters of mass media described by Noah Chomsky. One of the filters he describes is “Advertising” he explains the same idea as the author: Advertisers are now filling the gap and are paying them in exchange of a product — Its consumers.

 

• Medias manipulates its consumers by making their platforms very easily accessible and usable. It helps preventing consumers to go use other platforms that may be more complicated to use. Hence, it creates a market dominance.

 

• “Power over consumer data is hard to challenge because they make their platforms so convenient and universal.”: The audience of these platforms is very vast, hence, is hard to control.

 

• Solutions has been proposed:

1. “Stricter enforcement of privacy data protections in the term of service of these platforms and make these protections clear to consumers so that they know their rights”

1. “Treating the companies that handle massive amounts of data, particularly internet and digital advertising giants as public utilities.”

 

• “Monopoly power”

 

• Fights against these medias