1/ In the wake of BigTech's banning of Donald Trump and the @parler_app , we need to ask a critical question:

Is Facebook the printing press or what it prints?

The answer sets a precedent, not just for Facebook, but for all technology companies

2/ On one side, we have the printing press - an inert machine unaccountable for how its used.

On the other side, we have publications who make choices about what to publish. Publications are accountable to customers, shareholders, and governments for their choices.

3/ To date, Facebook executives have equivocated about the company's role. On a good day, they claim to be the printing press - an inert machine enabling protected free speech.

When the heat turns up, they make the editorial choices just like a publisher would.

4/ But, the choices made by Facebook's executives are a small part of the story. Every millisecond of every day, the Facebook algorithm makes editorial choices. It decides who sees what and why.

5/ This same analogy applies to Apple and the App Store. The App Store is not a printing press for apps. Apple has always made editorial choices.

6/ The App Store is a publication of curated apps governed by written policies and unwritten judgement calls. So, Apple's decision to ban @parler_app is not surprising.

7/ Google's decision to remove @parler_app is more surprising. They have positioned Android as a semi-open platform - less publication, and more printing press.

8/ Most surprising of all is Amazon's decision to cut AWS service to Parler. The decision shattered the expectation that many had of AWS.

9/ Before cloud computing, companies would setup their infrastructure on dedicated servers. These servers are very clearly the "printing press" - Dell wasn't held accountable for what a buyer of its servers chose to do with them.

10/ Many had thought AWS was a new way to buy/lease a printing press. But, printing press manufacturers can't recall their machine if they don't like how it's being used.

11/ Is AWS somewhere in between? A print service that can chose to serve or not serve its customers based on what they order? Or, is AWS just the like App Store - an app publisher that makes editorial choices?

12/ The Internet was designed to be a printing press for all. It provided everyone a privilege formerly of the few: an open platform to publish and distribute their ideas.

13/ Today, the Internet is primarily accessed through gateways tolled (and regulated) by trillion dollar companies.

14/ This week, those companies revealed their unchecked power to make editorial choices. They demonstrated that BigTech is more publication than printing press.

With that revelation, we're entering a new era of technology.

15/ The next 10 years will be driven by a push and pull:

As governments rush to regulate the "editorial power" of BigTech publications, entrepreneurs will rush to re-create the printing press.

The promise of the Internet is worth a second shot.

16/ Credit to @APompliano's article on Decentralization for inspiring this thread: https://pomp.substack.com/p/decentralization-is-a-necessity-now