Summary of Coders of the World, Unite

Moira Weigel

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A growing chorus of journalists and politicians argue that Silicon Valley’s biggest companies have become too powerful. But consumers are unlikely to abandon them, and regulators and politicians have been unable to curb the economic or social power of big tech. But will big tech be able to ignore pushback from its own workers? Moira Weigel describes how tech workers are starting to call for change from within. getAbstract recommends her analysis to anybody interested in learning how an old workers’ tactic is making a comeback in Silicon Valley.

In this summary, you will learn

Why pressure from the outside will unlikely curb the power of big tech and
Why tech workers believe that changing technology companies from within is feasible.

About the Author

Moira Weigel is a postdoctoral scholar at the Harvard Society of Fellows and is the founder of tech magazine Logic.

Summary

Until 2017, the public largely bought into the tech industry’s idealistic notion that it was making the world more democratic, open and connected. Silicon Valley’s dominant ideology championed personal liberty and free market economics. Technology companies argued that their digital tools provided a neutral space for people to exercise their right to free speech. On a political level, big tech was able keep the budding online industry free from government regulation – which helped these companies amass large amounts of wealth along the way.