Obama calls for tigher reins on big tech

Obama speaks during the Challenges to Democracy in the Digital Information Realm symposium hosted by the Cyber Policy Center at Stanford University in Stanford, California on April 21, 2022. He advocated modifying the US law known as Section 230, which spares platforms from liability for what users share on them. — AP

SAN FRANCISCO: Former US president Barack Obama on April 21 called out Silicon Valley, urging tech companies to stop dividing society and undermining democracy, and for political leaders to help guide the way with regulation.

Obama said that online platforms have found that “inflammatory, polarising content” attracts online audiences with money to be made at the expense of democracy.