More Regulation for Tech Companies Not the Answer, Downes Says

Imposing more regulations on tech companies has costs and government should proceed with caution, Larry Downes, senior fellow at the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy, wrote in the Harvard Business Review. The drumbeat continues to break up some of the biggest tech players, or at least impose new regulations, he said. “What if, for example, artificial intelligence puts an entire generation out of work? … What if social media companies learn so much about us that they undermine -- intentionally or otherwise -- democratic institutions, creating a tyranny of ‘unregulated’ big data controlled by a few unelected young CEOs?” Downes asks. “The problem with such speculation is that it is just that. In deliberative government, legislators and regulatory agencies must weigh the often-substantial costs of proposed limits against their likely benefit, balanced against the harm of simply leaving in place the current legal status quo.”