With diminishing state power and intelligification, we need regulations in order to keep our technology safe as well as holding people accountable for harming the public sphere. Doing so will keep things balanced as well as making sure groups in the public sphere have morals. Regulations should be made according to how they impact the public sphere.

Markets should be regulated so that monopolies won’t exist in the technology field. If monopolies were to exist, it could lead to inequalities and disadvantages the general public. In Verbeek’s writing, he talks about how we are slowly becoming more and more reliant on smart technology (Verbeek p217). This can cause an issue with a monopoly involved because if there was a monopoly on smart technology, it can cause that company to start to produce poor quality products which can harm the public sphere. Putting regulations in to counter those issues will help keep the markets fair and increase quality in smart technologies.

Businesses would need to have regulations that would ensure accountability. In Verbeek’s writing he talks about how businesses can easily influence people to do something that can cause them harm physically, mentally, or financially. (Verbeek p220). For example, websites like Twitter and Facebook use algorithms to find what the user likes to see the most. Those algorithms can push out posts or advertisements that can influence someone to cause harm to themselves or to others. To get rid of this issue, we need to create regulations that will hold businesses accountable for pushing those things into the public sphere.

In Verbeek’s writing, he says that groups such as political parties can use platforms to spread their voice to a wider range of people (Verbeek p222). This usually leads to the spread of misinformation, which can divide the people within the public sphere. To stop this, we need to put regulations in that will make digital platforms as transparent as possible while simultaneously monitoring their platforms for any type of false information regarding someone or something. Doing so will mitigate the amount of harm that they cause the public sphere.

With the issues in markets, businesses, and groups, individuals need a safe way to navigate a world full of technology. Verbeek says in his writing that technologies can heavily influence someone’s decision making (Verbeek p225). To stop this from happening, regulations should be put into place that would protect a user’s privacy while they are using a technology. Making sure that people are educated on issues regarding this could also help the public sphere understand what their options are when dealing with things like this.

With the government having less power in the technology field and technology becoming more available to us, it is important that we keep regulations in place. The regulations should be based on the impact a market/business/group/individual does to the public sphere, as well as keeping our technology safe. Doing so will help the public sphere navigate a intelligified world.

Sources
“Verbeek, Peter. Designing the Public Sphere: Information Technologies and the Politics of Mediation. 2015.”