Jan 17, 2024 7:00 AM

Big Tech Won’t Let You Leave. Here’s a Way Out

The year 2023 saw the “enshittification” of platforms from Facebook to Google Search. A new exit strategy means platforms will have to play nicely with your data, even if you leave for a rival.

The platform is the canonical form of internet business: a two-sided market that facilitates connections between end-users and business customers. Uber connects drivers with riders; Amazon and eBay connect sellers with buyers; TikTok and YouTube connect performers with audiences; social media connects people with something to say with people who want to hear it.

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TopicsThe WIRED World in 2024 Regulation data privacy privacy

Meta Is Blocking Links to ICE List on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads

Users of Meta’s social platforms can no longer share links to ICE List, a website listing what it claims are the names of thousands of DHS employees.

David Gilbert

The State-Led Crackdown on Grok and xAI Has Begun

At least 37 attorneys general for US states and territories are taking action against xAI after Grok generated a flood of nonconsensual sexual images of women and minors.

Maddy Varner

The Curling Controversy at the Winter Olympics Isn’t What You Think

After Swedish curler Oskar Eriksson accused Canadian vice-skip Marc Kennedy of cheating last week, everyone has become an expert in curling rules. They’re missing the point.

Martin Cizmar

How Curling Became the Winter Olympics’ Favorite Fixation

If throwing stones and sweeping ice seem strange to you, the centuries-old history of the sport explains why it became so beloved.

Paolo Armelli

The Tech Elites in the Epstein Files

The Department of Justice has released more than 3 million documents and photos related to Jeffrey Epstein. Here’s who shows up from Big Tech the most often—and what the files reveal.

Brian Barrett

Inside the Gay Tech Mafia

Gay men have long been rumored to run Silicon Valley. WIRED investigates.

Zoë Bernard

ICE Is Expanding Across the US at Breakneck Speed. Here’s Where It’s Going Next

ICE plans to lease offices throughout the US as part of a secret, monthslong expansion campaign. WIRED is publishing dozens of these locations.

Leah Feiger

Age Verification Is Reaching a Global Tipping Point. Is TikTok’s Strategy a Good Compromise?

TikTok’s new age-detection tech seems like a better solution than automatically banning youth accounts. But experts say it still requires social platforms to surveil users more closely.

Jason Parham

Revealed: Leaked Chats Expose the Daily Life of a Scam Compound’s Enslaved Workforce

A whistleblower trapped inside a “pig butchering” scam compound gave WIRED a vast trove of its internal materials—including 4,200 pages of messages that lay out its operations in unprecedented detail.

Matt Burgess

ICE Agents Are ‘Doxing’ Themselves

The alleged risks of being publicly identified have not stopped DHS and ICE employees from creating profiles on LinkedIn, even as Kristi Noem threatens to treat revealing agents’ identities as a crime.

Maddy Varner

Figure Skaters at the 2026 Winter Olympics Are Pushing the Limits of What’s Possible

For years, quad axel jumps seemed impossible. Then Ilia Malinin landed one in 2022. As he heads to the Milano Cortina Games, everyone wants to know what’s next.

Dvora Meyers

How to Organize Safely in the Age of Surveillance

From threat modeling to encrypted collaboration apps, we’ve collected experts’ tips and tools for safely and effectively building a group—even while being targeted and tracked by the powerful.

Andy Greenberg

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