OUR RIGHTS IN THE DIGITAL WORLD
Our lives are more connected to the internet than ever before – it’s a place where we communicate with friends, family and share the most intimate details of our lives.
But this vital space is dominated by just two companies – Google and Facebook.
And they use that power to gather as much information about us as possible to control what we see online by targeting us with content and ads. They are more in control of our data than we are.
Technology makes the world a new place
Shoshanna Zuboff
Surveillance advertising brings Google and Facebook billions of dollars in profit – at the expense of our human rights.
The rights to privacy, freedom of expression and non-discrimination are being harmed for the sake of company profit margins. That’s why Amnesty International is challenging the status quo and calling for a ban on surveillance advertising.
Read more about the human rights harms of Big Tech’s business model here.
OUR CAMPAIGN CALLS
Amnesty International is calling on governments to:
- Turn off surveillance for profit: Ban surveillance advertising that relies on invasive tracking and the profiling of users for profit.
- Turn off the manipulation machine: Ensure control and independent oversight of algorithms behind the platforms to limit the amplification of disinformation, hate speech and other harmful content.
- Put people back in charge: Challenge the dominance of Facebook and Google to ensure people can choose truly rights-respecting alternatives.
WHY DO GOVERNMENTS NEED TO ACT?
Google and Facebook make too much profit from surveillance advertising to fix the problem themselves – that’s why we need governments to step in.
These platforms are such a huge part of how we access information that we can’t simply stop using them, but we can demand that governments regulate them and prevent further human rights harms.
We need stronger digital regulation and protection laws to make sure that tech companies like Google and Facebook prioritize human rights over profit. Due to the dominance of Google and Facebook across the world, we need as many governments to act as possible.
Governments moving to ban surveillance advertising would call time on Big Tech’s surveillance-based business model and be a huge step to protecting human rights in the digital space.
PEOPLE VS BIG TECH
There is a growing movement of individuals and civil society organizations working to challenge the power of Big Tech. Across the world, people are coming together to demand that technology is used to serve us, rather than using our data against us. We can demand a better internet – one where we can access information and communicate without being subject to pervasive surveillance.
Read the People’s Declaration on Big Tech to find out more.