Issue 494 of New Internationalist
Reader-owned global journalism
July-August 2016
Smiley-faced monopolists
For Facebook, Amazon and Google, we have traded our privacy for something we find useful and put on hold our support for ethical shopping in exchange for the ease of low (or no) price and almost-instant gratification. This month's magazine looks at just how far down the line we are and asks how deeply exploitative and anti-democratic is this new ‘surveillance capitalism’ under which we now live. This month’s contributors include security expert Bruce Schneier, psychologist Robert Epstein and engineer and software activist Prabir Purkayastha.
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Included in this issue
Beating the digital titans
You can take action at a practical and technological level – and a political one.
South Africa: dying for justice
South Africa’s High Court recently ruled that 27,000 goldminers with silicosis, an incurable lung disease, could colle
Helping in two clicks: how digital technology is making INGOs irrelevant
Why bother with aid agencies? To ‘do good’ all you need is a phone and Google Maps. Amy Hall takes a closer look at the rising...
No, Mr Zuckerberg: India's fight for freedom against Facebook
Few can resist the tech titans. Prabir Purkayastha tells the story of Indians who went into battle against Facebook, for freedom...
Can search engine rankings swing elections?
Research psychologist Robert Epstein on how the new technologies invisibly shape public opinion – and what we must do about it.
I spy with my little algorithm
Everybody wants your private data. Bruce Schneier on how surveillance has become the business model of the internet.
FACTS – Internet giants
This month's fact spread presents details about the internet and the corporate giants who monopolize it.
Smiley-faced monopolists: how Google, Facebook and Amazon won the world
Does it matter that these titans are so successful? Vanessa Baird examines what their domination means for all of us.
HotDocs Festival - Film review special
Richard Swift reviews some of the best offerings at the world's largest documentary film festival.
Past issues
You can see our whole archive on the past magazines page.
The crisis of loneliness
A world to win
The cost of greed crisis
Take back the land
Whose railway is it anyway?
Rivers of life
How we stop Big Oil
Jailbreak: reimagining justice
Romani lives matter
Shifting horizons: the future of work
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