Facebook, Apple and Google: Are They Building Digital Empires at the Expense of Humanity?
An evidence-based investigation into corporate power, profit incentives, privacy, competition and public accountability.
There are serious reasons to question whether the business practices of Meta, Apple and Google place shareholder returns, market dominance and control over digital infrastructure ahead of certain public interests.
However, the strongest investigation does not simply call these corporations “greedy” or “psychopathic.” Those are moral characterizations, not established legal or clinical findings. A more rigorous approach is to examine the documented conduct, the incentives behind it, the harm alleged or established, and whether the companies changed their practices when confronted.
The central question is this: when a corporation has enormous power over how people communicate, access information, buy products and participate in society, who holds that corporation accountable?
The evidence deserves particular scrutiny in seven areas:
The monetisation of personal information and human attention.
The use of market dominance to limit competition.
The restrictions imposed on developers, customers and business partners.
The treatment of children and other vulnerable users.
The balance between corporate profits and public welfare.
The influence of lobbying, litigation and regulatory settlements.
The gap between public promises and business practices.
Facebook / Meta: Turning human attention into a commercial asset
The business model under scrutiny
Facebook and Instagram provide social connections, entertainment and communication. Their advertising business also benefits from predicting what users will watch, click, share and buy. That creates a fundamental tension between the user's well-being and the platform's incentive to maintain engagement.
Reason 1 — Engagement can be more valuable than well-being
Social platforms compete for people's attention. Infinite scrolling, autoplay, notifications and personalised recommendations can encourage prolonged use.
The critical issue is not whether every user is addicted, or whether social media is inherently harmful. It is whether companies adequately address foreseeable risks when features that increase engagement may also contribute to compulsive use.
In November 2025, Reuters reported on court filings alleging that Meta discontinued an internal research project after it found that people who stopped using Facebook for a week reported improvements in depression, anxiety, loneliness and social comparison. The filings concerned research known as Project Mercury. Meta disputes the broader claim that it has prioritised growth over teen safety.
Why critics see a profit-versus-humanity problem: if evidence suggests a product may harm some users, does management prioritise reducing the harm, even when doing so could reduce engagement and advertising revenue?
Reason 2 — Privacy failures have carried substantial financial penalties
In 2019, the US Federal Trade Commission imposed a $5 billion penalty on Facebook to settle allegations that it had deceived users about their ability to control the privacy of their personal information and violated an earlier FTC order. The settlement also introduced extensive compliance and oversight requirements.
This is a concrete example of a regulator concluding that Facebook's privacy practices warranted extraordinary enforcement.
The broader concern is that users may believe they are making informed choices about their personal data while lacking a clear understanding of how their information is collected, shared or used.
Reason 3 — Children and teenagers face particular risks
In 2021, former Facebook employee and whistleblower Frances Haugen testified before the US Senate about internal research and concerns regarding Instagram's effects on young people. The testimony raised questions about body image, harmful content, platform recommendations and the adequacy of the company's response.
In 2025, the Senate Judiciary Committee continued investigating allegations that Meta had failed to adequately disclose or address some child-safety concerns. These remain distinct from a final judicial determination of every allegation.
The ethical issue is especially serious because children are still developing their ability to regulate attention, assess social pressure and understand the commercial use of their data.
Reason 4 — The public cannot easily audit the platform
Independent researchers and the public often lack the same access to platform data that the company has. That makes it difficult to independently assess how recommendation algorithms affect political discourse, harassment, misinformation and mental health.
The problem is not that all algorithmic decisions are malicious. It is that a corporation can possess enormous knowledge about public behaviour while outsiders have limited ability to verify what the company knows and how it responds.
The case against Meta, in one sentence: its advertising and engagement incentives can conflict with privacy, user well-being and child safety, and its record of privacy enforcement gives critics concrete grounds to demand stronger accountability.
Apple: Control over the digital environment
The business model under scrutiny
Apple sells premium devices, software and services. Its integrated ecosystem offers convenience and security, but its control over the iPhone operating system and App Store also gives it considerable influence over developers and competing services.
Reason 5 — Control of the App Store gives Apple gatekeeper power
Apple determines important rules governing how software reaches iPhone users, including app distribution and payment arrangements.
In March 2024, the US Department of Justice and 16 state and district attorneys general sued Apple, alleging that restrictions on developers and competing services unlawfully maintained its smartphone monopoly. The complaint argued that Apple's conduct made it harder for consumers to switch devices and for competing products to flourish. Apple denies the allegations.
The underlying concern is straightforward: when one company controls access to a major digital marketplace, it can influence which business models succeed, how developers reach customers and what costs are passed on to consumers.
Reason 6 — The company can act as both marketplace operator and commercial participant
Apple operates the platform on which third-party developers compete, while also offering its own services.
This creates a potential conflict of interest. A platform operator can establish rules that affect its own services and those of its rivals. Even when individual rules have legitimate purposes, such as security or fraud prevention, questions arise about whether they are applied fairly and proportionately.
The issue is not that Apple should have no control over its software. It is whether its control is being used to protect users or to protect profitable commercial positions—or, in some cases, both.
Reason 7 — Switching costs can limit consumer freedom
Moving from an iPhone to another platform may involve more than purchasing a new handset. Users may need to transfer data, replace apps, change subscriptions and adapt to a different ecosystem.
The DOJ's 2024 lawsuit specifically raised concerns about restrictions that could make switching smartphones more difficult.
When customers face significant switching costs, a company can retain users even when they are dissatisfied with particular prices, policies or features. That weakens the practical force of consumer choice.
Reason 8 — Regulators continue to challenge mobile-platform restrictions
In February 2026, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority announced proposed commitments from Apple and Google intended to improve the fairness and transparency of app-store processes and expand interoperability. The regulator had designated both companies' mobile platforms as having strategic market status under the UK's digital markets regime.
This does not prove that every Apple policy is abusive. It demonstrates that the structure of mobile-platform markets has raised sufficiently serious competition concerns to prompt targeted regulatory intervention.
The case against Apple, in one sentence: its tightly controlled ecosystem can deliver real benefits, but that same control creates the ability to restrict competition, shape developer economics and make customers more dependent on Apple's own rules.
Google: The commercial value of information and market dominance
The business model under scrutiny
Google offers search, maps, email, Android, Chrome, YouTube and cloud services. Its advertising business benefits from its reach across these products and from its ability to connect users with advertisers.
Reason 9 — Search dominance can become a barrier to competition
Google is not simply a search engine competing on the quality of its results. Its position across browsers, mobile devices and distribution agreements can influence which search service people encounter by default.
In August 2024, a US federal court ruled that Google had unlawfully maintained a monopoly in general search services. In September 2025, the court imposed remedies that included restrictions on certain exclusive distribution agreements and requirements for Google to make specified search data available to qualifying competitors.
The significance is substantial: the court found that Google's conduct crossed the line from successful competition into unlawful monopoly maintenance.
Why this matters: a dominant company can make it difficult for a rival to gain enough users, data and revenue to become a credible alternative—even if that rival has a potentially useful product.
Reason 10 — Google's advertising infrastructure has also faced an antitrust ruling
In April 2025, a US federal court held that Google had illegally monopolised markets for key online advertising technology. The US Department of Justice reported that the court found harm to publishers, competition and consumers of online information.
This matters because online advertising supports much of the free web. Publishers depend on advertising technology to monetise their content, while advertisers depend on it to reach customers.
When a company occupies multiple influential positions in that supply chain, critics can reasonably ask whether it has too much power over the prices, terms and distribution of digital advertising.
Reason 11 — Location tracking raised serious transparency concerns
In November 2022, Google agreed to a $391.5 million multistate settlement over allegations concerning its location-tracking practices. Forty US state attorneys general participated. The settlement followed findings that Google had misled consumers about aspects of location tracking and the controls available to them.
Location data can reveal sensitive patterns of life, including where someone lives, works, worships or receives medical care. Even when data collection has legitimate uses, people need clear explanations and meaningful control over it.
The ethical concern is that the commercial value of behavioural data can exceed what users realise they have agreed to share.
Reason 12 — Free services are not necessarily cost-free
A search engine, email service or map application may not require a direct subscription fee. But users can still contribute valuable attention, behavioural signals and advertising opportunities.
That does not mean users are necessarily being deceived: advertising is a legitimate way to fund services, and Google provides products that many people find useful. The concern is whether users understand the exchange and have meaningful alternatives.
The case against Google, in one sentence: its enormous reach across search, advertising, browsers, mobile platforms and data collection can reinforce market power and create conflicts between commercial objectives and users' interests.
What connects all three corporations?
The strongest criticism is not that Facebook, Apple and Google are identical. They have different business models. It is that each has substantial control over an important part of the digital economy.
Meta — monetising attention
The principal concern is the tension between engagement-driven advertising, privacy and the well-being of users, especially children.
Apple — controlling access
The principal concern is the power to determine how developers distribute software, compete and reach customers within Apple's ecosystem.
Google — controlling discovery and advertising
The principal concern is the combination of search dominance, advertising infrastructure, default distribution and extensive data collection.
Five structural problems worth investigating
Problem | Why it matters |
|---|---|
Profit over public interest | Commercial incentives can conflict with safety, privacy and social well-being. |
Concentration of power | A small number of firms can influence markets, information flows and digital infrastructure. |
Limited consumer choice | Network effects, switching costs and platform restrictions can make alternatives less practical. |
Information asymmetry | Companies often know much more about users and their behaviour than users know about the companies. |
Weak accountability | Regulation, litigation and public scrutiny may lag behind technological and commercial developments. |
These are structural risks, not proof that every executive or every company decision is unethical.
Does “corporate psychopathy” accurately describe them?
The phrase is provocative, but there is an important distinction.
In clinical psychology, psychopathy refers to a set of personality traits assessed through specialised methods. It is not appropriate to diagnose an entire company, or its leadership, based on public controversies.
However, the phrase can be used metaphorically to raise a serious question about institutional behaviour: can an organisation consistently pursue its objectives while discounting the harm imposed on other people?
Consider the following framework.
An analytical framework for evaluating corporate conduct — not a clinical assessment.
1. Profit without sufficient regard for harm
Does the company continue a practice after credible evidence of foreseeable harm emerges?
2. Accountability without meaningful consequences
Does the organisation change its behaviour after enforcement, or does the underlying conduct persist?
3. Strategic use of power
Does the company use its market position to make competition, switching or independent scrutiny more difficult?
4. Public promises versus operational decisions
Do internal decisions, documented practices and measurable outcomes match the company's public commitments?
5. Externalising the costs
Does the company capture the financial benefits while shifting significant social, economic or privacy costs onto users, workers, developers or the public?
The more consistently these patterns are established through reliable evidence, the stronger the case for describing the organisation's conduct as ethically irresponsible or exploitative. That conclusion should be based on evidence about decisions and outcomes—not a presumed psychological condition.
The counterargument: What must a fair investigation acknowledge?
A credible investigation must also examine the evidence in the companies' defence.
- Meta: Facebook and Instagram help people maintain relationships, organise communities, communicate and access information. Meta argues that social-media harms are complex and that it has introduced teen accounts, parental controls and other safeguards. It disputes allegations that it has placed growth ahead of young people's safety.
- Apple: Apple's integrated ecosystem can provide consistency, privacy protections, security controls and a more predictable user experience. Apple argues that restrictions challenged by competitors can protect security and the integrity of its products. Its critics argue that security justifications should not automatically excuse anti-competitive restrictions.
- Google: Search, Maps, Android, Gmail and other services offer substantial practical value, and advertising helps fund products that users can access without direct payment. Google has also faced court-ordered competition remedies, which show that its market power is subject to legal scrutiny rather than being unlimited.
The existence of useful products does not erase misconduct. Equally, evidence of misconduct does not prove that everything a company does is harmful.
The proper question is whether the benefits, business practices and harms are being measured transparently—and whether consumers have genuine alternatives.
A timeline of evidence that deserves attention
Selected US and UK regulatory actions and court developments, 2019–2026.
2019
Facebook privacy settlement
The FTC announced a $5 billion penalty and substantial new privacy oversight requirements.
Google location-tracking settlement
Forty US state attorneys general announced a $391.5 million settlement addressing misleading location-tracking practices.
2024
Apple smartphone antitrust lawsuit; Google search ruling
The US DOJ sued Apple over alleged monopolistic conduct. Separately, a US federal court ruled that Google unlawfully maintained a monopoly in general search services.
2025
Google advertising and search remedies
A federal court found Google liable for monopolising key online advertising technology markets. In September, the search case resulted in remedies designed to improve competition.
Continuing scrutiny of digital gatekeepers
The UK CMA announced proposed commitments concerning Apple's and Google's mobile platforms in February. In October, Reuters reported that Fortnite was returning to Apple's App Store in Australia following a court ruling against Apple, which said it disagreed with the findings and would appeal.
The objective should not simply be to punish successful technology companies. It should be to ensure that their commercial success is compatible with human rights, fair competition and public accountability.
Six practical demands follow from the evidence:
Privacy by default: clear explanations of data collection, meaningful consent and accessible controls.
Independent audits: qualified external researchers should be able to examine important safety and competition risks under appropriate privacy protections.
Child protection: demonstrable safeguards, transparent reporting and independent evaluation of their effectiveness.
Fair competition: restrictions against using platform control to unfairly disadvantage rival services.
Meaningful exit rights: easier data portability, interoperability and switching between providers.
Consequences proportionate to misconduct: penalties, restitution and enforceable changes where violations are established.
These measures would protect consumers without assuming that all large corporations are inherently harmful.
Final assessment
There is substantial documented evidence supporting scrutiny of all three companies, although the strongest evidence differs by company.
Meta: privacy enforcement and continuing questions about engagement incentives, internal research and child safety.
Apple: the concentration of control over app distribution, platform rules and the relationship between security and competition.
Google: judicial findings of unlawful monopolisation in search and online advertising, alongside documented privacy concerns.
Calling these companies “the world's most greedy” would require a comparative study with a defensible definition of greed and evidence covering other major corporations. The available evidence does not establish that ranking. Calling them clinically psychopathic would be even less defensible.
But the underlying concern is legitimate: a corporation can provide valuable services and still engage in conduct that harms consumers, weakens competition or places commercial objectives above important public interests.
The real test of corporate responsibility is not how generously a company describes its mission. It is what the company does when protecting people, respecting their choices or allowing competitors to succeed conflicts with its commercial interests.
By Jugo Ikeji-Uju.
admin@ubuntusafa.com
sappertekinc@gmail.com
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