Either they were lying to themselves, or to everyone else. Or both.
But many of tech's critics helped sell this narrative (and thus helped Meta sell ads). Many critics have fallen prey to the sin of "criti-hype," Lee Vinsel's term for critiquing the claims of your adversary without bothering to ask whether they are true:
https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/02/euthanize-rentiers/#dont-believe-the-hype
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