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Announcement regarding Cory Doctorow's insights on Amazon's challenges.
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Cory Doctorow Reveals Amazon’s Decline and Antitrust Issues

Cory Doctorow Discusses Amazon's Decline and Antitrust Issues

Cory Doctorow outlines Amazon's declining quality and antitrust challenges, warning of consequences for the tech industry.

  • Amazon's decline due to enshittification
  • User experience sacrificed for profits
  • Antitrust issues and predatory pricing
  • Labor concerns and ethical shortcomings
  • Need for stronger antitrust enforcement
  • Broader implications for the tech industry

Cory Doctorow criticizes Amazon for its decline, a trend he refers to as “enshittification.” He claims that the company now prioritizes profits over user experience, leading to lower quality goods and manipulative practices.

Amazon’s Decline and Enshittification

Cory Doctorow, a well-known tech critic, describes Amazon’s decline through a process he calls “enshittification,” where the company shifts focus from user experience to maximizing profits. This has led to a cluttered platform filled with low-quality, AI-generated ads, knockoff products, and manipulative practices that frustrate both consumers and sellers. Originally a user-friendly site offering low prices and convenience, Amazon’s experience now suffers from deceptive ads and poor product quality.[1][2]

Amazon’s Early Growth and Market Control

Amazon initially grew by aggressively subsidizing prices to lock in users and sellers, providing unbeatable deals and seamless service. Over time, as its market dominance solidified, Amazon began squeezing suppliers, favoring paid advertising placements, resulting in search results saturated with sponsored and knockoff goods. This transition undermines genuine product discovery and hurts honest sellers.[1]

Antitrust Violations and FTC Settlement

Amazon’s antitrust issues involve predatory pricing to undercut competitors while later raising fees and enforcing “most favored nation” clauses that prevent sellers from offering better deals on other platforms. This creates a near-impossible monopoly that deters competition and innovation. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) highlighted these concerns in its lawsuit resulting in a historic $2.5 billion settlement in 2025 over deceptive user interface designs (“dark patterns”) that misled consumers into Prime memberships and complicated cancellations. This settlement includes a $1 billion civil penalty and $1.5 billion in consumer refunds, affecting 35 million customers.[3][4][5][6][1]

Labor Practices and Ethical Criticism

Amazon faces ongoing criticism over harsh labor conditions, union-busting, wage theft, and precarious gig work such as through Amazon Flex. Investigations reveal exploitative labor practices with unsafe work speeds, wage violations, and unpredictable schedules. Despite making billions in profits, Amazon’s internal labor issues contribute to service and product quality deterioration.[7][8][9][1]

Challenges Facing Third-Party Sellers

Third-party sellers contend with rising fees, stricter enforcement of policy compliance, and rampant counterfeit and hijacked listings. Automated and AI-driven enforcement often penalizes sellers without clear explanations, making recovery difficult. Sellers face high storage and fulfillment costs, limiting profitability and market competition.[10][11][12]

Market Control and Planned Economy

Doctorow warns Amazon has turned markets into “planned economies” by controlling data, logistics, and seller access, dictating unfavorable terms that benefit itself while stifling competition. This control extends to search algorithms biased towards Amazon’s products and costly fees that can consume up to 50% of sellers’ revenues.[4][13][1]

Path Forward: Regulation and Fair Competition

To counter these issues, Doctorow advocates banning anti-competitive clauses such as “most favored nation” terms and enforcing stronger antitrust measures to restore competition. Regulatory intervention should require clearer user consent processes, fair advertising policies, and improved labor protections. Without this, Amazon risks further erosion of trust and market value.[14][5][4][1]

Broader Implications for Tech Industry

Doctorow’s broader theory of enshittification applies across tech platforms, reflecting a trend where companies prioritize short-term profit over sustainable user experience. This warns of a degrading digital ecosystem unless there is a balance between growth and consumer welfare.[15][2][1]

Alex Chen

Alex Chen

Senior Technology Journalist

United States – California Tech

Alex Chen is a senior technology journalist with a decade of experience exploring the ever-evolving world of emerging technologies, cloud computing, hardware engineering, and AI-powered tools. A graduate of Stanford University with a B.S. in Computer Engineering (2014), Alex blends his strong technical background with a journalist’s curiosity to provide insightful coverage of global innovations. He has contributed to leading international outlets such as TechRadar, Tom’s Hardware, and The Verge, where his in-depth analyses and hardware reviews earned a reputation for precision and reliability. Currently based in Paris, France, Alex focuses on bridging the gap between cutting-edge research and real-world applications — from AI-driven productivity tools to next-generation gaming and cloud infrastructure. His work consistently highlights how technology reshapes industries, creativity, and the human experience.

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Elena Voren

Elena Voren

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Elena Voren is a senior journalist and Tech Section Editor with 8 years of experience focusing on AI ethics, social media impact, and consumer software. She is recognized for interviewing industry leaders and academic experts while clearly distinguishing opinion from evidence-based reporting. She earned her B.A. in Cognitive Science from the University of California, Berkeley (2016), where she studied human-computer interaction, AI, and digital behavior. Elena’s work emphasizes the societal implications of technology, ensuring readers understand both the practical and ethical dimensions of emerging tools. She leads the Tech Section at Faharas NET, supervising coverage on AI, consumer software, digital society, and privacy technologies, while maintaining rigorous editorial standards. Based in Berlin, Germany, Elena provides insightful analyses on technology trends, ethical AI deployment, and the influence of social platforms on modern life.

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Updates

Editorial Timeline

Revisions
— by Elena Voren
Add SEO improvements
— by Elena Voren
Added new relevant secondary sources
— by Elena Voren
Initial publication.

Correction Record

Accountability
— by Elena Voren
  1. - Added up-to-date 2025 data and references
  2. - Clarified Amazon’s “enshittification” concept
  3. - Included FTC $2.5B settlement details
  4. - Expanded on Amazon’s labor criticisms
  5. - Highlighted third-party seller challenges
  6. - Explained Amazon’s market control as planned economy
  7. - Structured article with clear headings
  8. - Used concise, direct sentences for readability
  9. - Integrated diverse, credible sources
  10. - Emphasized broader tech industry implications

FAQ

What is enshittification?

Enshittification refers to the decline in quality and user experience.

How does Amazon manipulate users?

Amazon uses misleading marketing tactics and complex subscription cancellations.

What are the implications for other tech companies?

They risk similar declines without focusing on sustainability.