Keynote Speaker - Cory Doctorow

Cory Doctorow discusses the concept of "inshittification," the decay of online platforms, and its underlying mechanism, "twiddling," which involves manipulating digital systems for profit. He illustrates this with examples ranging from nursing apps that lower wages based on a nurse's debt to Google's manipulation of search results for increased ad revenue. Doctorow argues that this decay is not due to technology itself but to policy choices that have weakened competition, regulation, interoperability, and labor power, creating a "crimogenic environment" for corporations. He suggests reversing these policies by strengthening antitrust measures, promoting interoperability by abolishing laws that ban tampering with DRM, and empowering workers, ultimately advocating for a new, better internet that resists these destructive forces.