59 Oak Point Rd
Trenton, ME
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
We'll be joined by former FCC Chair, Tom Wheeler, who'll be talking about his new book, Techlash: Who Makes the Rules in the Digital Gilded Age.
Please note the time of this event per time zone:
5 p.m. EST // 4 p.m. CST // 3 p.m. MST // 2 p.m. PST // 1 p.m. AKST
Presented in partnership with the League of Women Voters of Alaska
An accessible and visionary book that connects the experiences of the late 19th century’s industrial Gilded Age with its echoes in the 21st century digital Gilded Age.
In Techlash, he connects the experiences of the late 19th century’s industrial Gilded Age with its echoes in the 21st century digital Gilded Age. In both cases, technology innovation and the great wealth that it created ran up against the public interest and the rights of others. As with the industrial revolution and the Gilded Age that it created, new digital technology has changed commerce and culture, creating great wealth in the process, all while being essentially unsupervised.
Warning that today is not the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” some envision, Wheeler calls for a new era of public interest oversight that leaves behind industrial era regulatory ideas to embrace a new process of agile, supervised, and enforced code setting that protects consumers and competition while encouraging continued innovation. Wheeler combines insights from his experience at the highest echelons of business and government to create a compelling portrait of the need to balance entrepreneurial innovation with the public good.
Suggested reading: Techlash: Who Makes the Rules in the Digital Gilded Age
About the series:
Disinformation. Conspiracy theories. Extremism. Surveillance. Our democracy is threatened as never before by toxic online content. The social media giants seem unable, or in some cases unwilling, to control the flood of lies and manipulative practices. The staggering — often hidden — reach of Big Tech into our lives endangers civil society, our civil rights, and our privacy. In a "post-truth" world we risk losing the shared understanding that underpins our democracy.
Each month, we explore a different facet of this crisis with guest experts. Join us to learn, discuss, and work on possible solutions.