Frankly, I don't think this goes far enough: "Ban advertising" would be better. Almost every problem with the internet right now is caused by advertising if you dig through the chain of causality. From social media patterns that addict you to conflict and conspiracy, to popups, adware and spam, to constant attacks on our attention even when we're driving and could literally kill someone with inattention, to spreading…
Blanket prohibitions are ... difficult creatures. Highly progressive taxation seems to me a better practice, along with specific prohibitions and/or penalties. I'd floated this suggestion about six weeks ago: Taxation will reduce overall amounts of advertising. Taxes raise costs. Quantities of price-elastic goods or activities decrease if taxed. Ergo: an advertising tax results in less advertising. Individually targe…
Re: Open letter: Ban surveillance-based advertising
#271I'm really not sure why you think a blanket prohibition would be more difficult than taxation. If we can define what advertising is well enough to tax it, then we can define what advertising is well enough to ban it. Arguing for taxes versus fines is almost semantic--but I think there's a social element where things which are taxed rather than fined are "normal".