A weekly newsletter that tells the story of how tech companies became unelected governments and what to do about it, by former Google executive and 30-year Internet veteran Jonathan Bellack.

Posts

Oct 20, 2026

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5 min read

Explainer #9: How a software legend made the case for licensing engineers almost 30 years ago

If the book “After the Gold Rush” by Steve McConnell had been taken more seriously by the software industry in 1999, we might not be in such a mess now.

Oct 2, 2026

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5 min read

Licence to code? Google’s Demis Hassabis is half-right about FINRA

Last week I said that the financial industry is a lousy model for AI regulation. But like finance jobs, software professionals should require licensing, ethical standards, and continued education.

Sep 25, 2026

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5 min read

Explaining AI doomerism to my dad

I don’t talk about AI much in Platformocracy. A recent email to my father does a good job of laying out my priors and biases. [tl;dr: self-regulation is weak sauce]

Sep 18, 2026

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4 min read

News roundup: the EU's age restriction proposal, a new book calls bullshit on Haidt, and another identity hack from hell

A Boston College professor calls out the moral panic over social media and the EU’s big age-restriction proposal rolls out. Plus excerpts from my other op-ed with Mariana Rosenblat.

Sep 11, 2026

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5 min read

“Blood and soil” politics are undermining our online future

A unique book about ancient Athens got me thinking about why billionaires are trying to destroy the global Internet culture that made them rich.