The point of this is that there were lots of people back then who had the capacity to imagine the kind of gross stuff that Zuckerberg, Musk, and innumerable other scammers, hustlers and creeps got up to on the web. The thing that distinguished these monsters wasn't their genius – it was their callousness. When we brainstormed ways to break the internet, we felt scared and were inspired to try to save it. When they brainstormed ways to break the internet, they created pitch-decks.
It sounds sweet (so long as you don’t object to using an iPad as a babysitting device). But it turns out that YouTube Kids conforms to the First Law of Social Media, which is that if you provide an opportunity for people to make money by exploiting your automated technology, then they will exploit it. Parents have been discovering that videos that are disturbing for children have either slipped past its algorithmic filters, or been posted by “bad actors” seeking to make money from advertising from obsessively watched videos.
How Peppa Pig knock-offs bring home the bacon for Google
When "Don't Be Evil" Became Too Hard to Sell: Google’s Motto Makeover
Hey Tumblr fam! 🌙
So, I’ve been thinking about something lately: Google’s old motto, “Don’t be evil.” Remember that? It was their big, bold promise back in the early 2000s—a kind of nerdy, idealistic vow to keep things real and put users first. It was everywhere, from their IPO papers to their code of conduct. But then, poof, by 2018, it was quietly demoted, replaced with “Do the right thing.” What happened? Why’d they ditch it? Let’s unpack this corporate glow-up (or glow-down?).
Back in the day, “Don’t be evil” was Google’s way of saying, “We’re not like the other tech giants.” They wanted to be the good guys—building tools to make the world better, not just to make bank. And for a while, it worked. It was quirky, memorable, and gave off underdog vibes. But then Google became, well, Google. A trillion-dollar behemoth with fingers in every digital pie—search, ads, cloud, AI, you name it. And with great power comes… great scrutiny.
The motto started to feel like a trap. Every time Google made a questionable move—like that time they considered a censored search engine for China (Project Dragonfly) or got flak for data privacy scandals—people would point and say, “Uh, isn’t that kinda evil?” It was like the motto became a stick for critics to whack them with. X posts from around that time show folks calling it hypocritical, especially when Google got cozy with military contracts like Project Maven. Employees even protested, and that motto was front and center in the debates.
By 2015, when Google restructured under Alphabet, the vibe shifted. “Don’t be evil” felt too simplistic for a company juggling global regulations, billion-dollar deals, and ethical gray areas. They swapped it for “Do the right thing,” which sounds nice but, let’s be real, is way vaguer. It’s like going from a punk rock anthem to a corporate mission statement. Some say it was about dodging accountability—harder to call out “wrong” than “evil.” Others think it was just Google growing up, trading idealism for pragmatism.
But here’s what gets me: that motto meant something to people. It was a promise, a vibe, a reminder that tech could be human. Dropping it feels like admitting the world’s too messy for simple slogans. And maybe it is. Still, I can’t help but wonder—what does “the right thing” even mean when profit and power are on the line?
What do you think, Tumblr? Did Google bail on their soul, or is this just what happens when a scrappy startup becomes a global giant? Drop your thoughts, memes, or hot takes in the replies. Let’s spill some tea on Big Tech’s moral compass. 🖥️✨
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