A surreal new video from Norway has captured global attention by dramatising a phenomenon many internet users feel but struggle to name: the deliberate, gradual deterioration of digital products and services. The film, produced by the Norwegian Consumer Council, features a self-proclaimed "enshittificator" whose job is to make perfectly functional everyday items progressively worse.
The Absurdist Campaign Against Digital Decline
The video opens with a man hiding under a bed, carefully cutting a hole in someone's sock. Moments later, he's shown sawing a table leg to make it wobble during breakfast. "My job is to make things shitty," the character explains matter-of-factly. "The official title is enshittificator. What I do is I take things that are perfectly fine and I make them worse."
This absurdist premise serves as a powerful metaphor for what author Cory Doctorow has termed "enshittification" – the intentional degradation of digital platforms and services that users have come to rely upon. From social media feeds clogged with advertisements and scams to software updates that slow devices and chatbots replacing human customer service, examples of this phenomenon have become ubiquitous.
A Transatlantic Coalition Forms
In what is believed to be the first campaign of its kind, the publicly funded Norwegian Consumer Council has joined forces with more than 70 organisations and individuals across Europe and the United States. This unprecedented coalition includes trade unions, human rights organisations, and consumer advocacy groups spanning fourteen countries.
"We wanted to show that you wouldn't accept this in the analogue world," explained Finn Lützow-Holm Myrstad, the council's director of digital policy. "But this is happening every day in our digital products and services, and we really think it doesn't need to be that way."
The campaign has seen more than twenty Norwegian organisations press officials for action, with consumer councils in twelve other countries echoing their calls. Letters have been sent to European Union institutions, while four civil society organisations in the United States have contacted multiple policymakers.
Policy Demands for Consumer Empowerment
The coalition's demands centre on restoring power to consumers in digital markets. They urge policymakers to implement measures that would allow users greater control over the products they already own, including rights to repair, adapt, and modify digital goods. The campaign also calls for policies that would make it easier for consumers to switch between competing services.
"Another internet is possible," Lützow-Holm Myrstad asserted. "The status quo is not acceptable for anyone. Services don't need to be enshittified if we have real competition, if you can choose as a consumer which services you use, and if the market will better regulate all these practices."
Enforcement and Competition as Solutions
Specifically, the campaign urges stronger enforcement of existing consumer protection and data privacy laws. It also advocates for policies that would foster greater competition in digital markets, including using public procurement processes to favour alternatives to dominant technology platforms.
"It's not too late to turn the tide," Lützow-Holm Myrstad emphasised. The campaign is backed by an eighty-page report detailing how enshittification has steadily become the norm across digital industries.
David Versus Goliath in the Digital Age
The Norwegian Consumer Council has a history of challenging technology giants, having been among the first to accuse major platforms of deceiving users about data collection in 2018. Lützow-Holm Myrstad acknowledged their efforts represent a modern-day David versus Goliath struggle.
"But in the story of David and Goliath, David won in the end, right?" he noted. "This is also why this international action is so important. Groups, transatlantically, are all speaking with a common voice: it doesn't need to be this way. We don't want it to be this way."
Viral Response Signals Widespread Concern
The campaign has resonated far beyond policy circles. The enshittification video has garnered millions of views across multiple platforms, with more than nine thousand comments on YouTube alone. The accompanying report has been downloaded over six thousand times.
"We've never experienced anything like it, it really strikes a nerve with people," Lützow-Holm Myrstad observed. "There seems to be an incredible amount of support to do something about this."
As digital platforms become increasingly central to daily life, this Norwegian-led campaign represents a growing international movement demanding that technology serve users rather than degrade their experience for corporate gain. The viral success of their absurdist video suggests consumers worldwide are ready to push back against the enshittification they've endured for too long.
