As the “ techlash” widens against technology companies, markets are jittery that 2019 will be the year when the likes of Facebook and Google are finally curbed by regulators. The volatility of tech stock prices is in part a reaction to worries that the drumbeat of scandals around privacy, election manipulation and anti-competitive behaviour will prompt tougher rules from Washington or Brussels. But how likely is it that politicians, who in the US in particular depend on Big Tech for campaign finance, will crack down?
随着针对科技公司的抵制情绪蔓延,市场担心2019年将是Facebook和谷歌(Google)等大型科技公司终于要受到监管机构约束的元年。科技股波动在一定程度上是对以下这种担忧作出的反应:围绕隐私、操纵选举和反竞争行为的丑闻层出不穷,将促使华盛顿或布鲁塞尔方面出台更严厉的规定。但政客们、特别是依赖于大型科技公司捐助竞选资金的美国政客们,采取严厉措施的可能性有多大呢?