The founding donor to the McCourt School of Public Policy called for safer online platforms and highlighted the dangers of digital platforms in a March 18 book talk with journalist Norah O'Donnell (COL '95, GRD '03). I warned you about power.
Frank McCourt (CAS '75) Founder of the investment firm McCourt Global. serve At Georgetown's Board of Directors, talked About his new book, “Our Greatest Battle: Reclaiming Freedom, Humanity, and Dignity in the Digital Age.” The book, which McCourt co-authored with journalist Michael Casey, explores the threat that big tech companies, such as Google, pose to personal data, democracy, and the mental health of young people.
O'Donnell, anchor and editor-in-chief of CBS Evening News and contributing correspondent for 60 Minutes, moderated the event.
At the beginning of the conversation, O'Donnell pointed out the intensity of McCourt's arguments and said the book draws attention to the Internet on health, safety and government issues.
“You blame the internet for the mental health crisis, the rising youth suicide rate, why politics is toxic, and you call it a threat to democracy. It's a pretty grim situation,” O'Donnell said at the event. He spoke at
McCourt said that while today's internet has the potential to bring about positive changes in society, the harm that digital technologies are causing outweighs the potential benefits.
“There's an old expression that says, 'A hammer is just a tool.' You can use it to build a house or kill someone. It's how you use the tool that matters, and this tool is currently being used in ways that cause great damage. McCourt said at the event.
McCourt said digital platforms have changed significantly from how big tech companies operated when they first went public, moving from simple data transfers between locations to more complex collections now called apps. Ta.
“We've fallen into this attention economy by default. They're driven by our time, and the more the better, regardless of how we're spending that time.” ,” McCourt said. “So these platforms have become not only hugely profitable, but extremely powerful. And now we have a situation where our internet is not decentralized and is actually highly centralized. It's very authoritarian and based on surveillance. It's very exploitative, it's very predatory.”
“These platforms know everything about us, more than we know about ourselves. We are supposed to be digital citizens, but we are becoming digital subjects,” he added. .
O'Donnell also read an excerpt from McCourt's book that emphasized McCourt's belief that the Internet is taking away user autonomy.
“In the age of the internet, your rights have been stripped away. You have no agency. You are not a citizen. You are a vassal, a serf, a vassal, subject to the demands of a digital feudal monarch.” O'Donnell He read aloud from a book.
McCourt said he wrote the book to highlight the work of Project Liberty, an international organization he founded. Dedicated Educating the public about the potential impact of digital technologies. The project focuses on social media and advocates for fair internet development.
McCourt said the scope of Project Liberty was expanded because of its potential to expand support for technology reform from purely technical issues to social issues. All proceeds from “Our Biggest Battle” will be donated to Project Liberty.
“We quickly realized that this was not just a technology project to solve technology problems. This needed to be a much broader project, and that That's when we really started thinking about how to reimagine it not just as a project, but as a social project,” McCourt said.
McCourt also said it was essential to create new solutions to the problems posed by current technology in order to protect future generations, and that new parents should avoid using technology that could be harmful to their children. He added that people should not be forced to choose between two difficult choices: allow them or risk refusing them. Isolation from peers.
Instead, McCourt said parents should be able to trust that the devices they're giving their children are safe and healthy.
“Instead of just getting dragged down by a future we don’t want, let’s move on and move on to something better. What we want, safer for our children, preserving our democracy, and bringing some sanity back to the world.” , let's build something that brings integrity back to the internet,” he said.
McCourt compared “our greatest battle” to Thomas Paine's 1776 call to action, “Common Sense,” which encouraged the American colonies to assert their independence from Britain.
Highlighting other organizations that have influenced change through large-scale engagement, especially Mothers Against Drunk Driving, McCourt says the core of the book is that Americans are now trying to self-police on the internet, especially He said they were faced with an equally important choice from a personal data perspective.
“One can remain a subject of a sovereign, owned by a king, with few human rights or property rights, or one can choose to have rights as a citizen and have the right to be known.” as an inalienable right,” McCourt said.
“You have agency, autonomy, choice, and you can be somebody. And if you can own things, and we can create a self-regulating government, that means autonomy. It's an American project, right?'' he added.
