Internet firms must face consequences, says author

Paris: After 25 years as a blogger, campaigner for digital freedoms and virulent critic of big tech companies, Cory Doctorow is starting to see some g...

Paris: After 25 years as a blogger, campaigner for digital freedoms and virulent critic of big tech companies, Cory Doctorow is starting to see some green shoots of optimism.

This is a big deal for an author who coined the term "enshittification" to describe the decay of today's tech platforms.

His analysis, which has leapt from his blog and into the mainstream over the past two years, describes how platforms lock in users and advertisers before making their products steadily worse as they transfer all remaining value to their shareholders.

On the phone from Los Angeles, Doctorow -- also a prolific science-fiction writer -- told AFP that tech companies acted like this because they "lack discipline".

"If you don't face consequences when you suck, you don't have to try as hard," he said.