The mission statements of social quantification companies do not mention anything about extermination of natives, but like Spanish law, they adopt a very generous and helpful attitude toward those whom they seek to subjugate. They purport to “bring the world closer together” (Facebook) and to “enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential” (Microsoft). They also aim to “give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers” (Twitter). Google has policies that promote values of transparency, user choice, and responsibility—including a “responsible manufacturing” policy and even a “conflict minerals” policy,” both of which regulate the sourcing of manufacturing materials from war-free locations. Amazon wants to be a place where “customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online,” and Airbnb imagines a “magical world” in which “everyone of us can belong anywhere” and we “can be anything we want.” Intuit, which sells financial software to individuals, declares that they want to change their users’ lives “so profoundly, they couldn’t imagine going back to the old way.”

Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, loc. 338