Road to Digital Responsibility: The Case of Meta

Growing scrutiny surrounds the responsibilities of ‘Big Tech’ companies, especially their duties and obligations toward consumers and users. In this study, we consider the responsiveness of one Big Tech company to criticisms about their handling of matters relating to privacy. Using a grounded theory approach, we analyze a longitudinal data set (2013-2022) of earnings conference calls between Meta and market stakeholders. Our discussion explores the tensions between corporate narratives and the enactment of digital responsibility. We argue that Big Tech does respond, but such responsiveness generates new challenges. Compared to notions of responsiveness in prior literature, our findings show how responsibilities are becoming revised and repositioned in ways that reinforce the dominance of Big Tech. While Meta claims that their ‘technical solution’ successfully counters past criticism about privacy transgressions, we conclude by drawing attention to the notion of confidentiality washing and its implications for theory and practice.