Big tech may be monopolistic but it serves consumers

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"Big tech" is under increasing scrutiny. Tech giants like Amazon, Google, Apple and Facebook are being accused of a wide variety of sins: promulgating fake news, stifling innovative competitors and crushing mom-and-pop shops, to name a few.

Some critics have gone so far as to call for these powerful companies to be converted into public utilities. Others want the government to use its antitrust powers to break up big tech. This borders on the absurd.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 22, 2018, with the headline Big tech may be monopolistic but it serves consumers. Subscribe