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America Is Broken: No Accountability for Telcom Corps [1]

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Date: 2023-05-16  

As a better writer than me once said, a fine is a fee:

The NY AG let these people get away with deliberately committing fraud in order to manipulate the democratic process. The fine is likely not enough to cover what they were paid for this work, and even if it is, you can be sure that the Telcos involved will send enough business their way to more than make up for the fee. It is just a cost of doing business, committing fraud to subvert democratic accountability, now, thanks to decisions like these.

There is no real accountability for people in power. We have reached the stage where the people in charge cannot possibly be held responsible for anything they have done wrong. They must be right, because they are the people in charge. And if you, a government official, want to later get a higher paying industry job, then you'd best not remind them they are wrong.

And this is likely just the start. Imagine how much more efficient this is going to be once AI systems become involved. And of course, they will, because how can we trust the same people who let clear violations go with less than wrist slaps tackle policing a more complex and complicated problem?

When people talk about how AI is going to harm democracy, this is part of what they are discussing. A culture of impunity and immunity combined with massive financial incentives to attempt to overthrow the will of voters by hook or by crook will inevitably lead to corrupt attempts to overwhelm democratic institutions with bullshit. They are already doing it with much less useful tools. Imagine the wonderland of fraud and deceit ChatGPT can help them usher into being.

And they will be allowed to do so as long as the worse they face is a fee. Democracy doesn't die in the dark. It dies in broad daylight, when people can see that they are being played for suckers.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/16/2169187/-America-Is-Broken-No-Accountability-for-Telcom-Corps

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