Business Standard | Book Review / Opinion | May 27, 2026
Reviewing Cory Doctorow’s “Enshittification” (Verso/FSG, 2025; paperback edition 2026), the piece traces how digital platforms (Facebook/Meta, Amazon, Google, Twitter/X) systematically degrade user experience in a predictable three-stage pattern: capture users → exploit business partners → extract rents from everyone. Doctorow argues this is enabled by DMCA anti-circumvention provisions, opaque algorithms, and the absence of interoperability. The proposed remedies — competition policy revival, mandatory interoperability, restored worker power, and tighter platform regulation — echo Yanis Varoufakis’s Technofeudalism (2023).
The Argument in One Line
Big Tech is not failing capitalism — it has invented a post-capitalist digital feudalism where platforms extract rent from both producers and consumers, and only competition law + interoperability mandates + a revived antitrust playbook can restore the lost surplus to users and creators.
The Three Stages of “Enshittification”
| Stage | What happens | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | Platform is good to users → attracts a large user base | Early Facebook (no ads), early Amazon (good prices), early Google Search (clean results) |
| Stage 2 | Platform pivots to business customers → locks in users + extracts from advertisers/sellers | Facebook ads cap; Amazon’s “buy box” + advertising slots; Google AdWords cost squeeze |
| Stage 3 | Platform extracts from everyone → both users and business customers see degradation | Algorithm-throttled organic reach; Amazon ads cluttering search results; Google’s AI-summarised results that obviate clicks |
The trick is that users and business partners cannot leave because of lock-in (network effects, data, contractual moats).
Why It Works — The Enabling Architecture
| Enabler | Mechanism |
|---|---|
| DMCA Section 1201 (US) / equivalent global laws | Anti-circumvention provisions make it illegal to break platform locks; users cannot port data |
| Opaque algorithms | “Algospeak”, shadowbans, reach throttling — invisible to users |
| Acquisition strategy | Buy potential competitors (Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, DoubleClick) |
| Vertical integration | Amazon retail + Amazon AWS + Amazon Prime Video + Kindle ecosystem |
| Closed APIs | Twitter API closure 2023; reduced competing client apps |
| Workforce precarity | Gig workers + content moderators in poor labour conditions |
Doctorow’s Remedies
| Remedy | What it would look like |
|---|---|
| Mandatory interoperability | Force platforms to allow data portability, cross-platform messaging (à la EU Digital Markets Act, 2022) |
| Antitrust revival | Break up dominant platforms; block strategic acquisitions; structural separation |
| Worker organising rights | Strong unions for tech workers, gig workers, content moderators |
| End “non-compete” clauses | Free movement of talent; FTC has moved to ban (April 2024) |
| Public option | Government-built or non-profit alternatives (think: PNB-style banking from the 1960s, but for digital platforms) |
Varoufakis’s “Technofeudalism” Parallel
Yanis Varoufakis (2023) frames the same phenomenon differently:
- Cloud capital replaces traditional capital — platforms own the digital commons.
- Rent extraction replaces profit-from-production — Apple’s 30% App Store cut is rent, not industrial margin.
- Vassals replace workers — sellers, creators, drivers depend on platforms like serfs to feudal lords.
- Cloud serfs — users who provide free labour (content, attention, data) without compensation.
Both frameworks converge: the modern economy has a post-capitalist layer where platform-mediated rents dominate.
India’s Regulatory Architecture — Where We Stand
| Instrument | Status | Strength | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Information Technology Act, 2000 | Active; amended | Foundational | Not designed for platform economy |
| IT Rules, 2021 (Intermediary Guidelines + Digital Media Ethics Code) | Active; multiple challenges | Grievance officers, Significant Social Media Intermediaries (SSMIs) | Limited interoperability mandate |
| Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 | Rules notified Jan 2025; phased implementation | Consent + data fiduciary framework | Weak on cross-border data, light on AI |
| Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023 | Active | Deal value threshold, settlement framework | Ex-ante regime for “Systemically Important Digital Intermediaries” (SIDIs) is still being designed |
| Digital Competition Bill (draft, 2024) | Pending | Modelled on EU DMA — ex-ante rules for SIDIs | Not yet enacted |
| Digital India Act (proposed) | Consultation | Comprehensive platform regulation | In draft phase |
| Telecom Act, 2023 | Active | Subsumes OTT discussion | Unclear OTT-app scope |
| PWMR / DPDP labour provisions | Limited | Some gig-worker protection in state codes | National framework gap |
Where India Is Ahead vs Behind
| Ahead | Behind |
|---|---|
| DPI (UPI, ONDC, Aadhaar) as an explicit alternative to platform monopoly | Antitrust enforcement capacity at CCI is still ramping up |
| ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce, 2022) is a global-first attempt at platform-side interoperability | Algorithmic transparency rules are early-stage |
| DPDP Act is more affirmative than CCPA / GDPR in some respects | Cross-border data flow rules still emerging |
| Gig-worker code (Code on Social Security, 2020) | State implementation patchy; Karnataka’s 2024 Gig Workers’ Welfare Fund led the way |
Wider Significance
- Public-square implications — platform dominance affects democracy (elections, hate speech, polarisation).
- Economic power-concentration — Big Tech’s combined market cap rivals national GDPs; Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon, Meta cumulative valuation ~USD 12 trillion.
- Geopolitics — US-China platform competition; India’s role as the largest neutral digital market.
- AI age intensification — generative AI concentrates compute further (NVIDIA, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind) — same enshittification risk on a larger scale.
Counter-Arguments
| Counter | Substance |
|---|---|
| Free at point of use | Most consumers don’t pay; “free” services depend on ad rents |
| Innovation engine | Big Tech R&D budgets exceed many countries’ R&D spend |
| Antitrust risk | Aggressive breakups may produce weaker firms that lose to Chinese competitors |
| Interoperability cost | Mandated portability raises security, privacy, IP-protection costs |
Way Forward — Indian Context
- Operationalise the Digital Competition Bill with ex-ante rules for SIDIs (modelled on EU DMA).
- CCI capacity — Digital Markets Cell with dedicated economists, data scientists.
- ONDC scale-up — protect its open architecture against capture.
- Algorithmic audit framework — accountability for recommendation systems used for content moderation and ranking.
- Gig-worker rights — extend social security; platform-fee transparency.
- Skill the regulator — IIT/IIM-Bangalore-trained digital competition specialists at CCI, TRAI, MeitY.
UPSC Relevance
GS Paper 2 — Polity & Governance:
- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors.
- Issues relating to information technology, intellectual property rights.
GS Paper 3 — Indian Economy / S&T:
- Effects of liberalisation on the economy; changes in industrial policy.
- Awareness in the fields of IT, computers, robotics, AI.
Analytical hooks for Mains:
- Platform economy regulation — India’s emerging framework.
- Interoperability as a competition tool — ONDC vs platform monopolies.
- Big Tech and democracy — public square implications.
Facts Corner
- Book reviewed: Cory Doctorow, Enshittification (FSG / Verso, 2025; paperback edition 2026).
- Comparable framework: Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism (2023).
- EU Digital Markets Act: November 2022; effective March 2024.
- EU Digital Services Act: November 2022; effective February 2024.
- India’s IT Rules: 2021 (Intermediary Guidelines + Digital Media Ethics Code).
- DPDP Act: August 2023; Rules notified January 2025 (phased).
- Competition (Amendment) Act: 2023 — added deal-value threshold (₹2,000 crore).
- Digital Competition Bill (draft): released for consultation in 2024.
- ONDC launched: April 2022 (DPIIT initiative).
- UPI volumes (FY25): ~185.8 billion (≈18,586 crore) transactions, ~₹261 lakh crore value (NPCI).
- Code on Social Security, 2020: Includes provisions for gig + platform workers.
Editorial source: Business Standard, May 27, 2026
Source: Enshittification and Digital Feudalism: How Big Tech Captured the Public Square — Ujiyari.com | Free UPSC & State PCS Editorial Analysis
