It would be great if folks could think beyond questioning the business model in terms of what (controversial content) increases user attention and think about questioning the model itself: using the internet to sell attention. There is nothing that demands the internet must be used this way.

The big tech companies like to combat the possibility of any such thinking by invoking people's fear of change. Something like "The internet would not be as you know it today if advertising decreased." The reader is supposed to think, "Oh my gosh, what a scary thought." However the internet as we know it today is not necessarily the best the internet could be. That should be obvious. Tech employees are having a crisis of conscience.

Tech companies and their investors want everyone to presume the way things are now is the best possible outcome. That is because they know they have a money printing machine (see, e.g., Tucker Bounds quote) so long as the internet remains open for unregulated advertising. They will keep advancing this idea that the internet would suck without unregulated ads, but there is no evidence that is true. No one can predict the future. Tech company spokespersons try to paint a picture of a possible future where web users would have to pay for using websites. There is nothing that indicates that would be the outcome. Tech companies do not control the internet. They do not own the internet. Tech companies might die without advertising, but websites might flourish. Both commercial and non-commercial. People might find relief from excessive screen time. The mom and pop retailer or SMB/SME are not going to charge customers to use their websites. Users will continue to pay access fees to ISPs. "The tech industry" !== the internet. It uses the internet to advance its own interests (these may be aligned somewhat to those of advertisers, but they often conflict with the interests of users). Tech companies must use the internet for advertising or face an existential crisis. That is not true for users. We can use the internet for whatever we want. We pay for it. Generally, advertisers do not pay our internet access fees.

We pay for access to a network that tech companies usurp to sap our attention for a fee, paid by advertisers. We do not get a cut of those payments. The whole system is incredibly one-sided and should be questioned. It is far from ideal.