In an article for Wired, Zeynep Tufekci writes that the common argument from social media platforms on why they must microtarget users with ads instead of charging a service fee is an excuse rather than a reason. Tufekci writes that other services, such as Amazon Prime and Netflix, help prove that people will pay for communication services. *She writes, "Sure, raking in all this personal user data is convenient. Lead is also a great ingredient in paint ... But we outlawed lead in paint anyway, for reasons that now seem chillingly obvious. We can do the same for data surveillance."* (Registration may be required to access this story.)
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