I'll be contrarian. These lawsuits are a Good Thing. Market forces push web sites and apps which are more addictive, more hateful, and more polarizing. Unless we have some mechanism to get that under control, things will continue to spiral.
I don't want to work on harmful technologies, and without government intervention, there will be increasingly incentives to do things which are harmful. Market forces apply to everyone -- devs, executives, researchers, and otherwise. A regulatory climate is there to point those forces to good.
Ideally, regulatory regimes don't ban things but, for example, tax or provide grants. I don't support outright bans. However, I would like to live with an internet which is, by default, safe for me and safe for my children. I support public funding of free software, laws like the GDPR, taxes on harmful things like sugar, and subsidies on healthy things. I'd like to live in a nice world.
The way I'd like the world to look is that the default path is what's considered nice and healthy, but the non-default path is available to people who have other opinions.
I don't want to work on harmful technologies, and without government intervention, there will be increasingly incentives to do things which are harmful. Market forces apply to everyone -- devs, executives, researchers, and otherwise. A regulatory climate is there to point those forces to good.
Ideally, regulatory regimes don't ban things but, for example, tax or provide grants. I don't support outright bans. However, I would like to live with an internet which is, by default, safe for me and safe for my children. I support public funding of free software, laws like the GDPR, taxes on harmful things like sugar, and subsidies on healthy things. I'd like to live in a nice world.
The way I'd like the world to look is that the default path is what's considered nice and healthy, but the non-default path is available to people who have other opinions.