Regulating tech is hard, in part because computers can do so many things. This makes them useful but also complicated. Companies hide in that complexity, rendering undesirable behavior illegible to regulation: Regulating tech becomes regulating unlicensed taxis, mass surveillance, illegal hotels, social media, etc.

If we actually want accountable tech, I argue that we should focus on the tech itself, not its downstream consequences. Here’s my (non-environmental) case for rationing computation.