Big Tech is Like Scientology

In the 1950s, L. Ron Hubbard developed a practice called auditing. In a standard session, a trained Scientology auditor asks the subject a series of questions while the subject holds the electrodes of an E-meter that measures galvanic skin response (the same physiological signal used in polygraph tests). The questions are designed to surface traumatic memories, which Scientology calls engrams, so they can be discharged through conscious recall. The sessions are recorded, and the records are kept in what Scientology calls “preclear folders.” They contain whatever the subject disclosed during auditing: accounts of illegal activity, sexual behavior, family conflicts, financial difficulties, and statements about other people. The Church of Scientology denies that folders are used punitively, but former members have testified that these folders were used in disciplinary proceedings and in litigation against critics and defectors. The analogy to big tech is not subtle. Every major social…