The Most Significant Controversies Involving Big Tech Firms: Did You Know?

Over the past decade, several tech companies have been embroiled in controversies and scandals. From data breaches and privacy violations to allegations of discriminatory practices and anti-competitive behaviour, these companies have come under intense scrutiny from regulators, consumers, and the media alike.

One of the most high-profile examples of tech company controversy is Facebook's role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which saw the social media giant accused of mishandling user data and allowing it to be used for political purposes without consent. Google has also faced significant backlash over its collection and use of user data, with the company being fined billions of dollars by European regulators for antitrust violations.

Know the most significant controversies involving Big Tech firms

In one of the first Big Tech scandals, Edward Snowden disclosed papers revealing that the NSA hacked Google and Yahoo systems. Former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden provided three journalists with top-secret papers exposing the scope of intelligence agencies' monitoring of US people in 2013. The documents revealed that the NSA secretly accessed consumer data held on Google and Yahoo clouds. The revelation "outraged" Google's top legal officer, who issued a statement. Mr. Snowden fled the United States and was granted refuge in Russia.

Also read: Failed AI Projects that Went Terribly Wrong, The Dark Side of Artificial Intelligence

Facebook revealed that a Russian-based influence campaign purchased thousands of ads to sway the 2016 US election

Mark Zuckerberg initially ignored worries that Facebook was being used to disseminate disinformation before and after the 2016 US presidential election. However, the Big Tech giant later confessed that it had proof that a Russian-based influence campaign paid $100,000 on its platform to promote controversial viewpoints. The organisation funded advertisements propagating divisive views on immigration, racism, and other subjects. The controversy fueled US intelligence judgments that Russia meddled in the election campaign against Hillary Clinton.

In 2018, Facebook and Cambridge Analytica were entangled in a big data scandal.

Several investigations showed in March 2018 that Cambridge Analytica inappropriately accessed and utilised personal information from millions of Facebook users to create pro-Trump advertising during the 2016 US election. The operations of the political consulting business included collecting data from individuals who completed a personality assessment and data from their Facebook connections. Even though this practice violated Facebook's policies, it took founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg five days after the discovery to discuss the event.

Advertisers have cancelled their advertising from Facebook, claiming that the network has failed to take action on messages threatening protesters.

In 2020, nearly 1,000 firms joined a Facebook advertiser boycott to protest the platform's failure to suppress hate speech. The firms deleted their sponsored advertising as part of the #StopHateForProfit campaign, which protested Facebook's restrictions on posts threatening violence against anyone attending anti-police brutality rallies after George Floyd's death. One such post by former President Donald Trump was left unchecked on Facebook, resulting in a scandal.

In 2016, Apple's tax troubles in Ireland sparked a Big Tech crisis

When the European Commission ordered Apple to pay the Irish government €13 billion (US$14.5 billion) in overdue taxes in 2016, the corporation was mired in a crisis. According to the Commission, Irish tax authorities permitted Apple to credit nearly all of its legal earnings to an Irish head office that only existed on paper, evading taxation on EU income. Apple, led by CEO Tim Cook, and Ireland filed a legal appeal to the ruling. The order was reversed in 2020. The Commission has filed an appeal against this ruling.

Apple contractors routinely heard sensitive information when "grading" the company's speech assistant, Siri.

A study conducted in 2019 discovered that Apple contractors routinely overheard sensitive conversations, some of which included personal medical information, while evaluating the effectiveness of Apple's voice assistant, Siri. The Siri inquiries heard were among a few recordings distributed to contractors worldwide for quality control. Although Apple claims that Siri data is utilised to improve the service, people must know that humans would listen to the recordings.

In 2019, the vast magnitude of phoney Instagram followers was disclosed

According to a 2019 worldwide survey, more than half of Instagram accounts in the United Kingdom participated in fraudulent activities such as purchasing false followers, likes, and comments. Celebrities, influencers, reality TV stars, and other prominent personalities were among those discovered to have acquired fake followers on Instagram. Instagram, owned by Facebook's parent firm Meta, has already stated that it will utilise technologies to combat fake likes and comments in 2018.

In 2017, a letter sent by a Google employee criticising diversity initiatives sparked a Big Tech crisis

When Gizmodo acquired an internal document criticising the company's diversity measures, Google became embroiled in a scandal regarding sexism in Big Tech. The memo, written by Google employee James Damore, argues that the gender disparity in Silicon Valley might be related to biological differences between men and women. The claim was strongly criticised. Damore was sacked by Google two days after the letter was made public, with Google CEO Sundar Pichai informing colleagues that parts of the message broke the company's Code of Conduct.

Google was embroiled in an internal crisis in 2018 when complaints of harassment of female employees surfaced

On 1 November 2018, hundreds of Google employees worldwide staged a walkout protesting the company's treatment of suspected gender-based harassment. The demonstrations began after Google paid Andy Rubin, the designer of the Android mobile platform, a US$90 million severance payment while concealing specifics of claims brought against him by female employees. Similar allegations were levelled against Richard DeVaul, a Google's X lab director.

Following employee protests, Google decided not to extend a contentious deal with the Pentagon.

Faced with employee outrage, Google said in June 2018 that it would not extend a contract to assist the Pentagon in analysing drone video and identifying targets using artificial intelligence. Over 4,600 Google employees signed a petition urging the firm to terminate the acquisition, claiming it violated the business's no-harm philosophy.

House Democrats have labelled Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google as monopolies that require extensive regulation.

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee's antitrust group issued a 449-page study calling Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google "monopolies" in 2020. The research advocated stricter rules for the four companies, even suggesting that they be broken up. 

Microsoft was ordered to pay a criminal sum in 2019 to satisfy anti-bribery allegations in the United States

Microsoft Corp. resolved US allegations in 2019 that it improperly paid bribes to government officials in Hungary and other countries. Prosecutors said the action resulted in at least $14.6 million in illegal profit for the Big Tech behemoth between 2013 and 2015. Microsoft Hungary agreed to pay $8.75 million in criminal penalties in exchange for admitting responsibility for the violation. Microsoft paid $16.6 million to resolve outstanding legal claims from its operations in Hungary and other countries but did not acknowledge guilt.