Big Tech is Becoming More Powerful Than Nation-States

Photo by Maxim Hopman on Unsplash

A few years ago, I was having dinner with a friend who worked at Google. As we were discussing the ins and outs of the tech world, he casually remarked: “Google is going to take over the world you know.” Driving home and reflecting on that remark I thought: “How curious.” But now, as I contemplate the shambles our democracy has become, I’m more inclined to think: “How prescient.”

Democracy is under threat—not just in the U.S. but in many other countries as well. But the precipitous actions of newly minted authoritarian leaders and the turmoil in Western democracies are just a few of the puzzle pieces needed to figure out how we got to this point. Another less discussed trend is that U.S. citizens are being subjected to a relentless onslaught from intrusive technologies that have become embedded in the everyday fabric of our lives, creating unprecedented levels of social and political upheaval.

Advanced computer technology and the internet have given us …