The Net Is Closing In

With power comes responsibility and it seems that Google, YouTube and Facebook are waking up to realise that this morning.

Let's face it, all three companies have run roughshod over the rules that normal publishers and broadcaster have long had to follow, but it seems that the chickens are coming home to roost.

Most serious, perhaps, is the allegation that Facebook could have prevented the murder of a British soldier by a Islamic extremists. The implications here is that a publisher (and I use that term advisedly) like Facebook should have some responsibility for what is published on its network.

The new regime at the EU is finally gunning for Google's pretty much absolute monopoly over search and advertising and is threatening to even look at requiring the company to divest.

YouTube's vloggers have been told that they must clearly label any promotional videos and the burden of doing this may well fall on the video site.

It is pretty amazing how unchecked these companies and their practices have been, but I suspect that there are now more and more political points to be gained by attacking Big Internet (notice how that term has crept into the common lexicon).