• SMcIntyre
    +4

    I think this article overestimates the actual leverage the Governments will have against the "Frightful Five". People in those countries have already had a taste of the digital lifestyle, that toothpaste isn't going back in the tube. Governments can get away with a lot because most of what they do happens in the abstract as far as regular people are concerned, but this is hitting them where they live and they're unlikely to stand for it.

    Governments can oppress their citizenry and erode their freedoms, but heaven help the Government that tries to interfere with people's ability to watch cat videos, or post pictures of their every meal for the world to see. To paraphrase a really great actor, in a really bad movie: "It might seem like Governments and Tech Companies have each other over the same barrel, but it just seems that way."