Consumerism, Censorship, and… Clippy?

    

Some time ago, the internet and online discourse began a large-scale protest against internet censorship, anti-consumerism, and the forced integration of AI in online spaces. The movement in question began with YouTuber Louis Rossmann uploading a video about growing anti-consumerism in hobbyist electronics, growing internet censorship, and covert data harvesting by big tech companies. In said video, Rossmann encouraged viewers to change their profiles to the Microsoft assistant Clippy, leading to a resurgence in popularity for the character as a symbol of anti-censorship and pro-consumer ideals across the internet despite its initial reputation as an annoyance.

    As a result of Clippy’s newfound role as a symbol of protest, it is fitting that Clippy has been used to protest all kinds of big tech practices like planned obsolescence, data harvesting, and corporate overreach. Clippy has found special prominence in that no matter how annoying he was upon creation as a desktop assistant, he could always have been turned off and did not broker data, a stark contrast to the modern internet’s near-inescapable data harvesting. Regardless, hundreds of internet users across all manner of platforms have changed their profile pictures to Clippy as a silent protest to the power of modern tech companies.

• Opeyemi J., 10th Grade