The difference between reining in Big Tech and Big Tobacco


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
There's been no shortage of comparisons between the tech industry and Big Tobacco in recent days, particularly following revelations from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen and her damning congressional testimony last week.
However, regulating Big Tech may prove trickier than reining in the tobacco industry, writes Axios, although there are some "clear parallels" between the two.
One "key" difference is that "Big Tobacco was a relatively stationary target" — in other words, large companies produced essentially the same product over and over. In the case of Big Tech, however, products "differ widely from one another, as do the perceived harms." The companies themselves and the whole industry are "rapidly moving targets," notes Axios. Moreover, the evidence against tobacco companies was (and still is) obvious and overwhelming, whereas the case against social media companies is "murkier and more debatable."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A commonality is that the fix itself will likely take time. It took over a decade to significantly regulate tobacco companies, "suggesting that those looking for quick changes in tech will be disappointed," Axios writes. What's more, because the tech industry is so rapidly evolving, lawmakers will have to focus on the right platforms (all of the attention to Facebook and Instagram ignores other popular services, like TikTok) and craft laws that "won't quickly become obsolete." They'll also need to sort through partisan differences, as Republicans and Democrats often focus on differing issues in tech, offering solutions that are "all over the map."
In the meantime, New Street Research's Blair Levin told Axios, "Facebook may now face a similar challenge from increased litigation as tobacco, or more recently, OxyContin." Read more at Axios.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Brigid is a staff writer at The Week and a graduate of Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Her passions include improv comedy, David Fincher films, and breakfast food. She lives in New York.
-
A surge in surge pricing
Feature And more of the week's best financial insight
By The Week Staff
-
Rupert Murdoch steps aside at the empire he built
Feature The last of the old-style 'press barons' has retired. What is he leaving behind?
By The Week Staff Published
-
Net zero: the looming 'energy gap'
Talking point UK has made strides in decarbonising UK's electricity supply but government has few plans to expand capacity
By The Week Staff Published
-
NYPD to monitor Labor Day parties using surveillance drones
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Turns out Facebook isn't as polarizing as previously thought
Talking Point New studies show that, contrary to prior belief, the algorithm has little effect on driving polarization
By Theara Coleman Published
-
Elon Musk announces change to Twitter logo
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Twitter has reportedly threatened to sue Meta over Threads
Speed Read
By Brigid Kennedy Published
-
Judge limits how Biden officials can communicate with social media companies
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Mark Zuckerberg vs. Elon Musk: a tale of the tech tape
Under the Radar The two men challenged each other to a fight after years of sniping
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Meta to block news access for Facebook and Instagram users in Canada
Speed Read
By Theara Coleman Published
-
Russian hackers allegedly breach US government agencies in cyberattack
Speed Read
By Theara Coleman Published