I'm not saying it is the panacea, or that it only has consequences. Just that technology drives social and political developments, not the other way around. Our current technology does promote free speech[0], and does promote lack of privacy. That's why you see politicians fighting with the Internet on curtailing free speech, and promoting privacy.
Politics and social customs are all about taking particular spots on a landscape of choices. Technology shapes that very landscape.
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- [0] - note how difficult it is to really censor anything these days, or curtail someone's audience; hell, if anything, technology is showing that ubiquitous free speech has some negative consequences too.
