All language subtitles for Adam Ruins Everything s01e23 The Internet.eng

What's wrong with the internet?

Adam, are you
downloading movies again?

No, I'm downloading old public
domain encyclopedias.

Why?

Oh, I'm correcting them.

The 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
is full of mistakes.

Can you believe they
actually thought beriberi

was caused by a fungus?

A fungus.

(chuckling)

(sighs)

Fine, I'll go to
the coffee shop.

Thank you, kind sir.

(electronic devices chirping,
chiming, ringing)

Look at them.

Addicted to their phones
like giant babies

suckling on technology's teat.

You ever notice how nobody
talks to each other anymore?

We're all too busy staring
at the gadgets in our hands.

We call these smart phones?

But I call them dumb phones.

Let's face it.

The internet's destroying
society, sorry.

I should tweet that.

No, you shouldn't
and no, it isn't.

Ahh!

Oh, God, they're multiplying.

(laughing)
I've seen your show.

This is the guy who tells
people why things are bad.

Nope, I'm the guy who tells
people why they're wrong.

And you're wrong
about the internet.

Mind if I borrow your
date for a second?

Oh, I don't know him.

I just forgot to put
my purse on the seat.

Oh, great.

Hi, I'm Adam Conover.

And this is
"Adam Ruins Everything."

Closed Captions Provided by
truTV

I thought more of you, Adam.

As a fellow free thinker,
I expected you to see

that the internet is a murderer.

Its victim? Society.

Mitchell, that complaint
is literally as old

as society itself.

Every time technology advances,

people say it's
the end of the world.

After the telephone
was invented,

newspapers worried
it was so addictive,

we'd become "a race of
left-eared people."

Watson, come here!
I need you.

What, that is crazy though.

But smart phones
are different.

They're so invasive.

Like, who needs constant
updates all the time?

Well, people said the same thing
about another disturbingly fast,

modern device, the telegraph.

(beeping)

Ah!

But, Papa, this says
that the tornado's only--

Whoa-whoa-whoa!

I'll find out when the paper
comes next week.

Right, the newspaper.

Those were the good old days.

Instead of isolating
ourselves on our phones,

we used to read the paper and
discuss the affairs of the day.

Sorry, Mitchell, but when your
precious newspaper was invented,

it was demonized
for the exact same reasons.

Ah, remember
the good old days?

Instead of isolating ourselves
in our newspapers,

we used to talk to each other
and just make up the news.

I happen to understand
that fellow.

He's simply longing for an era
of refinement and culture.

People used to read books.

No one reads books anymore.

That old clich?
is completely false.

More Americans read books today

than did in the 1950s.

Huh.
And, by the way, when books were invented,

snobs like you
hated on them too.

One intellectual even thought
that too many books

would harm the mind.

Blast this...

That's ridiculous.

If you don't read books,
how will you know

how smart and superior
you are?

Ahh! Ooh!

Well, according to Socrates,
you aren't.

The father of philosophy
himself complained about

the ultimate corrupting modern
invention, the written word.

The written word
creates forgetfulness

in the learners' souls.

Back in my day,

we memorized
and recited our lessons.

Reading is for the lazy
and the stupid!

No! My personal identity!

It's okay, he was wrong.

Just like you're wrong
about the internet.

No, no, things
are worse now.

I can prove it.

People used to communicate
with each other,

not like these solipsists!

I'm sorry, what do you think
people use these devices for?

Literally, all they're
doing is communicating.

He's keeping in touch
with a friend from college.

She's writing an email to
a fellow researcher in Poland.

I'm cyberbullying a child.

(Adam)
Okay, they're not all winners.

But the point is, we're all
communicating more now

than we ever were before.

We weren't better people back
before we had smart phones

or the internet.

We were the same, lazy, curious,
social people we've always been.

The only difference is now we
have instantaneous access to

all knowledge
and communication.

I mean, how is that anything
other than a tremendous

social good?

Instead of pining
for an imagined past,

we should feel immensely lucky

to live in the
magnificent present.

You-- you...

You're right.

I love the internet.

I've always loved it.

I just felt too guilty
to admit it.

I'm an avid Yelp reviewer.

I moderate three subreddits.

Remember eBaum's World?

(chuckling)

I was eBaum.

Why have I wasted so many years
flagellating myself,

pretending to read
pretentious books

that I don't even understand!

But deep down, I knew.

The internet
is the greatest invention

in American history.

Well, I hate to break it to you,
but America actually has

some of the worst internet
in the developed world.

What? No, come on, man.

I just got on board with this.

Sorry, it's true.

Here, I'll show you.

Ahh!
Oh, sorry, wrong way.

Ooh.
Wrong way again, how is that possible?

Ahh!

Hello?

Hello, Bell to eBaum.

(both screaming)

Wait, so you spend the first
third of your show

telling me how great
the internet is.

Now you wanna tell me
that it's terrible?

That's quite a pivot.

Not the entire internet,
the American internet.

We actually have
slower broadband

than almost any other
developed nation.

Oh, here we are.

Ah.

What-- are we
in South Korea?

Did you say Psy?
I love Psy!

I just got into him.
Oppa Gangnam--

Please don't.

Wait, hold on.

How were we downloaded
so quickly?

Well, the internet
here in Seoul

is nearly eight times
faster than in America.

Eight times.

No wonder I always
get smoked at StarCraft.

Yup, cities in Korea, Japan,
Switzerland, France

and even Romania have
internet fast enough

to download an entire High-Def
movie in just seven seconds.

But with speeds like that,
it's gotta be insanely expensive, so...

Actually,
we pay as low

as one-tenth of what
many Americans pay.

One-tenth? But, by--
by that math,

we would be paying
ten times as much

for a fraction
of the speed.

Yeah, I'm afraid
we are.

But America invented
the internet.

How is this possible?

Because the most hated
companies in America

are working to keep
it that way.

Uh-oh!
This hurts so--

Oh!

(distorted)
... much....

Why is this taking
so long?

Because of those bandwidth
blocking bastards,

America's cable companies.

Sorry, I'm six hours late.

I just, uh...
don't care. (chuckling)

Finally, can you make
our internet faster?

Uh, I could...
but I won't.

Also, I double-charged
you this month, so...

What? You-- You--

That innocent woman
is beset.

Why is he able to
treat her that way?

Because she can't go
anywhere else, moron.

We're a monopoly.

But Adam, I thought
the government shuts down monopolies.

Nope, in this case,

local governments
created them.

In exchange for building
new cable lines,

early cable companies
were handed

exclusive contracts
by state and local governments.

Ah, come on, Unc, look,
I put up all these wires.

Don't make me share 'em.

Well...

we make phone companies
share the phone lines...

Eh, but cable's
just a fad

and landlines are here
to stay.

What's the harm in making
a little "excepciones?"

It turns out,
a lot of harm.

Those cable lines
would go on to become

the only viable way to get
broadband to your home.

So, now, if you want
fast internet,

you probably have
no choice.

But as an intellectual,
I'm intellectually curious.

Why don't other companies

just put up new cables
and try to compete?

That's the real scam.

They all agreed
not to.

Years ago, America's cable
companies realized

that if they clustered
themselves by region,

they wouldn't really
have to compete.

(chatter)

(laughing)

They hatched
their plan in 1997

during what one cable executive
called "the summer of love."

Why we gotta fight?

You take Iowa.

And you take Ohio.

Groovy, baby.

(moaning)

We have a merger!
(laughing)

By 2016, America's 40
regional cable companies

had consolidated
to just three.

(snaps)

And without regional
competition,

these greedy monopolists
are free to jack up prices

and keep your speeds
shockingly slow.

(laughing)

Revolting.

And they don't do this
in South Korea or "Paree?"

Nope, in those places,
service providers compete.

In fact, France requires
companies to share space

on their networks
with competitors,

which is why some
French people have not one,

but six high-speed providers
to choose from.

(French accent)
So, you see, Francois.

I lower my prices,
you lower yours.

I raise my speeds,
you raise yours.

So shall we live.

And yes...
so shall we die.

But in our country,
these cable jerks have used

every tool at their disposal
to eradicate competition.

They've even lobbied state
governments to make it illegal

for America's cities to build
their own networks.

I've got it!

We can build a municipal
high-speed network

to compete with cable companies
and boost our town's economy.

Okay, that's actually
gonna be illegal now, sorry.

Boy, you have
soft hands.

And this scheme makes
the internet worse

for all of us.

We think of ourselves as

the most technologically
advanced nation in the world.

But when it comes to high-speed
internet access,

we're at best
in the middle of the pack.

Oh, seriously, guys?

Oh, sorry, I was using
BitTorrent.

Hey, Mitchell,
I'm Susan Crawford.

I'm a professor
at Harvard law School.

And I teach and write about
telecommunications in America.

Oh, Harvard's
a good school...

for people who
couldn't teach at Oxford.

Don't nag my expert,
man.

It's okay, I deal with a lot of
guys like him at Harvard too.

Look, the problem is that these
very few companies

are controlling American's
access to the internet.

And that means
that everyday Americans

are paying too much
for second-class service.

At a time
when modern day life

requires access
to the internet,

it's just as important
these days

as electricity or water.

As important as water?

I won't die if I don't
see Grumpy Cat.

No, but you might have
trouble applying for a job.

The internet is just essential
to modern life.

Exactly, the same thing
happened with electricity

about 100 years ago.

It used to be considered
a luxury, not a utility.

And a very few
private companies

controlled electricity
in America.

It took government intervention
to make sure

that all Americans
had electricity.

Uncle Sam needs
to do his job

and force the cable
companies to compete.

Until he does, we're gonna
keep getting screwed.

If we don't upgrade
the entire country

to fiber-optic
internet access,

we will be behind for
the next several decades.

Thank you, Susan.
You know, I have found this

a very stimulating
t?te-?-t?te.

Well, you know,
this all reminds me

of yet another point
that Americans...

Again?

Sorry, let me reboot
the router and...

(blowing)

Ugh, this is
so frustrating!

You know what?
You know what?

I'm gonna post about
this on Facebook.

You know, we may be getting
gouged by cable companies,

but at least the best parts
of the internet,

like Facebook,
are still free.

Oh, no, Facebook
isn't free at all.

In fact, you pay
for it every day.

Here, I'll show you.

Inside the internet.

No, no,
not the ear again.

It works in any hole.

The ear will do nicely,
thank you.

(both)
Ahh!

I imagine that right now you're
feeling a bit like Alice, hm?

Tumbling down the rabbit hole.

Wait, do you still think
"Matrix" parodies are cool?

Yes.
(clinks to floor)

Oh (bleep).

Look around you, Mitchell.

This is the free internet.

We do everything here.

We connect with friends
on Facebook.

Search for information
on Google.

And all of it's free.

Yeah, free.

Wait, actually, how do
these sites make money?

I'll tell you.

But you may not like where
the rabbit hole goes.

So, do I choose a pill or...

Oh, no, these are
my allergy medications.

This one's for pollen
and this one's for lactose.

(loud gulping)

Oh.

Where are we?

What is this place?

This is the internet
of the real.

The truth is these services
aren't free at all.

You pay for them with
your very identity.

When you use Facebook,
they log everything you do.

The pages you like,
the people you interact with.

Even the words
in your status updates.

Then they take
that information, analyze it

and assemble a detailed
profile of who you are.

They know your habits,
your preferences.

They can even determine
your risk tolerance

or sexual orientation.

And then they sell that
information to advertisers.

One risk-taking
homosexual, please.

It's a pleasure doing
business with you.

Wait, how do they know?

I'm not even out at work yet.

Hey, I didn't
know you were gay.

And so adventurous.

(chuckles)

(Adam)
That's not hypothetical.

This actually happened
to a woman in Tampa.

Hm, that is problematic.

But come on, we all know
they're showing us ads.

Yeah, but we don't know how deep
Facebook's tentacles really go.

They actually record
which ads we see.

Then partner with firms that
monitor what we do

in the real world.

Jacob like the page
Bacon is Bae last week.

We showed him an ad
for your double bacon

heart attack burger.

He just bought one in Duluth.

Clearly susceptible
to the campaign.

Let's pump him full of ads!

(message alert)

I guess I got room
for one more.

This has gotta be one of
the most invasive advertising

systems ever devised.

Facebook can actually determine
who's the most vulnerable

to an ad campaign.

Then up their dosage
till they buy even more.

Oh, wow, my heart.

Well, I'll simply delete
my Facebook account.

I'm gonna miss those
ex-girlfriend pictures.

But it's worth it
not to be tracked, right?

Sure, you can quit Facebook.

But good luck
escaping Google.

(clicking, hissing)

That's me.

(beeping)

But I'm not even on Google.

I'm, I'm on
a private website.

Exactly.

Google doesn't just track you
when you search.

Their tracking software
is also installed

on over 10 million websites.

Even medical sites.

So, that health info you think
you're looking up in private,

Google's got a front row seat.

Mitchell has erectile
dysfunction.

I know a drug company
that would get rock hard

for that information.

(Adam)
And that's not all.

Every time you write a Gmail,

watch a YouTube video,

or use Google Maps,

Google collects data about you.

God no!

We don't even know
the full extent

of what Facebook and Google
store or what they do with it.

All we know is that they're
collecting our data

on an unprecedented scale
and making billions off of it.

That's their real
business model.

They're monetizing us.

When we use these sites,

we're not the customer,
we're the product.

Why? How?!

Hello, Mitchell, I've been
waiting for you.

Now you're parodying
the second "Matrix" movie?

What? It's the best one.

Mitchell, this is
Ethan Zuckerman.

He's the Director of the
MIT Center for Civic Media.

Mitchell, the fact that the
sites are free is the problem.

When the web was created,
we the users decided

we would rather have free stuff

than pay money
for the services we use.

As a result, the websites have
had to sell ads to make money.

They target ads to us
based on our preferences

and our behavior online.

And that means we're under
constant surveillance

in exchange for these services
that we get for free.

One in six people on earth
now has a Facebook account.

And they make up 20%
of all time spent online.

(Ethan)
That's 1.6 billion people whose every move is being tracked

by an online big brother that
they chose to live under.

Oh, no.

And here's the kicker.

You wanna know how much
revenue your personal data

is worth to Facebook?

For every user they surveil,
they make just $12.

No.

Your interests,
your personality.

Your relationships,
your privacy.

Those things are priceless.

But you gave them all away
just to avoid paying $12.

No, that--
That can't be.

That's, that's, that,
that's not possible.

Well, there is a bright side.
You wanna hear about it?

No, no, just shut up, shut--
Shut up, let me out!

He's gonna pop.

Let me out!

I wanna get out!

(moaning)
Oh... oh...

You know, this happens
to all my friends.

(sighs)
Thank goose, it was just a dream.

Oh, good you're awake.

No, no, get me out
of the internet, okay?

Google, Facebook,
the cable companies.

They all have way
too much power.

The internet's ruined, and
there's no way to stop it.

Are you kidding?
Of course there is.

How? I'm not Keanu,
I'm not "The One."

You don't have to be.

We can all do it together
by using the power

of the internet itself.

In 2015, the cable companies

were trying to do away
with net neutrality.

That's the principle that all
data on the internet

is treated equally.

But instead,
they wanted a system

where rich sites could pay for
faster service

while sites without money
would get screwed.

That's awful.

That's what a lot of other
people thought too.

But instead of staying silent,

they used the internet to
communicate with the FCC

and their politicians
and raise their voices.

More than four million
Americans wrote in to protect

the internet they love.

And as a result of all that
political pressure,

the FCC changed direction.

All those people
made that happen.

When you act collectively
to ensure the protection

of the internet,
things change.

And we can do the same with
Facebook and Google.

We can demand more
accountability

for what these sites
do with our data.

And we can vote
with our dollars

by paying for sites
that put our interests first.

Wow, instead of being ashamed
or scared of the internet,

we should use the internet

to raise our voices
and fight for a better one.

Exactly.

We don't have to wait
around for The One.

We can all be superheroes now.

Thanks, Adam.

Ah! Let me.

Oh.

Ahh!

Not you again.

I'm sorry to
have bugged you.

I hope you'll accept this

as an apology.

I have work to do.

I read this freshman
year of college.

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