Is Big Tech making society worse?According to an exclusive poll by Forum Research for the Toronto Star, the tech-lash is real.More than half of Canadian voters think Big Technology, represented by companies such as Facebook and Google, is making society worse, not better.According to the poll, 56 per cent of Canadians say the big platforms are making society worse, while one-fifth (22 per cent) of those polled say they’re making it much worse. A third of Canadians (33 per cent) say the platforms are making society better.“That is just shocking, the amount of negative attitude that Canadians are feeling toward these tech companies,” Lorne Bozinoff, president of Forum Research, said in an interview. “Let’s face it. The experience with these companies has been horrific from a public and users’ point of view. And there seems to be no remorse or concern or real corrective action taken by them.”Bozinoff said what’s unusual is that voters of all political parties share the negative attitude.“It’s the one thing Canadians seem to agree on, no matter the political philosophy,” he said. “Attitudes can change pretty quickly. We saw this with climate change, and now we see it with technology, where people seem to be more concerned.”While Forum’s own polling shows that the environment is top of mind for Canadian voters, the negative attitude toward Big Tech is actually a more unifying issue across all parties, said Bozinoff.“Everyone agrees that the environment is an issue, although Tory voters are less concerned than the other three progressive parties. But in the case of technology, we hardly ever see a poll where everyone across the spectrum agrees.”According to Forum, 83 per cent of Canadians agree that large technology companies have an ethical duty to ensure their products are not causing harm.Some 81 per cent say that they should be responsible for ensuring that the informat ...
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