Over time, web pages, digital platforms and social networks have become filled with intrusive advertisements, pop-ups and paywalls, and a large part of the Internet has gone from being useful for users to economically exploiting their information. It is what has been called “enshittification” and what the Norwegian Consumer Council (Forbrukerrådet) seeks to stand up to in a campaign full of criticism and sarcasm.
Devised by the creative agency NewsLab, the advertising short film personifies the systematic degradation of the quality of online platforms and presents the figure of the “enshittificator”. His job, as shown in the piece, consists of taking “things that work perfectly well, and make them worse“With dark humor, it shows how it begins with material things and, once the Internet is consolidated, moves its functions to the digital field and ends up developing an entire movement around the deterioration of services.
The campaign is based on the concept of “enshittification”, which was originally coined in 2022 by journalist and writer Cory Doctorow, and subsequently chosen as word of the year by the Australian dictionary Macquarie Dictionary. The term describes the gradual deterioration of a service or product caused by a reduction in the quality of the service provided, especially on an online platform, and as a consequence of the search for profits.
The short film accompanies the publication of the report “Breaking free: paths towards a fair technological future”, in which the Norwegian Consumer Council analyzes in depth “enshittification” and how to resist it, as well as the way it affects both consumers in particular and society in general.
Additionally, it communicates the Council’s efforts in combating the practice. As explained on its website, the body has joined 58 organizations and experts to send a letter to the Norwegian government requesting a better balance of power between consumers and service providers, as well as the prioritization of services based on open source and protocols in public procurement procedures. They also call for greater resources for law enforcement authorities in relation to Big Tech.
In addition, the organization assures that similar organizations in other countries are also sending similar letters to their respective governments. together with 29 civil society organizations, such as the European consumer organization BEUC, Amnesty International, the European digital rights organization (EDRi), the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD), they address the European Commission to request the reduction of dependence on big technology.
