For one brief, shining moment it seemed as if the pandemic was going to put a stop to the techlash.

In the earliest days of the crisis, US tech companies made all sorts of helpful, grown-up decisions. Before California announced a stay at home order, Facebook told employees to leave offices. Apple and Google formed a rare partnership to ensure smartphones could exchange test and trace information. Netflix, YouTube and Amazon agreed to reduce video streaming quality in Europe to ease the strain on internet service providers. 

The warm fuzzy feelings those actions generated have long since evaporated. Big Tech’s reputation as overreaching and overly powerful has reasserted itself. This week, public faith took another sharp knock with Facebook’s decision to ban Australian users from sharing news articles. Within hours of the company’s decision #DeleteFacebook was trending on Twitter.