How BigTech Dismantles Democratic Foundations
How BigTech Dismantles Democratic Foundations
Why the techno-authoritarian threat demands urgent action
This is the second in a series of articles examining BigTech’s threats to democratic society and exploring pathways forward. In our first article, we exposed the ten pillars of techno-authoritarianism that BigTech is constructing. But why is this really so threatening? Many people still prefer to think “this is just how things are”—to be patient and carry on. But is the threat truly so serious? Are we sleepwalking into some kind of a techno-authoritarian society? Can we call this really a Digital Coup¹, or a Tech Coup²? As we will see, the answer is unequivocally yes. BigTech’s assault on democracy isn’t merely disruptive; it systematically dismantles the foundational principles that make democratic society possible. Let’s examine how these technological giants undermine the core pillars of democratic governance. #Equality Before the Law: Rendered Obsolete Democratic society rests on the principle that all citizens are equal before the law. BigTech has shattered this foundation through multiple mechanisms. Algorithmic discrimination ensures marginalised groups cannot function as equals in society. Predictive policing systems target innocent people based on probabilities, stripping away the fundamental right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. These systems create self-fulfilling prophecies, generating automatic targets for detention whilst offering no protection against discrimination. Meanwhile, the richest corporations stand above the law. They systematically avoid taxes, ignore European legislation, and treat regulatory fines as mere business costs. Apple’s App Store monopolistic behaviour, Microsoft and Google’s GDPR violations in schools, Meta’s exploitation of children’s data, and forced consent mechanisms all demonstrate how BigTech operates beyond legal accountability. As privacy advocate Max Schrems and NOYB.eu have documented, these companies simply refuse compliance whilst regulators struggle to enforce democratic oversight.
The Colonisation of Essential Services
Perhaps most insidiously, BigTech has infiltrated every sector that human beings depend upon: housing, mobility, agriculture, commerce, healthcare, education, media, transport, policing, and military services. This comprehensive disruption, combined with market fundamentalism that claims “the market will solve it more efficiently,” has resulted in public regulations being rendered ineffective or entirely substituted by the de facto operating procedures of tech platforms. Consider the gig economy’s assault on workers’ rights. Companies like Uber follow a well-tested playbook for market disruption: move fast, break things, then claim it’s too late to change. They launch platforms in new sectors, rapidly build user bases before regulators and civil society can respond, then present their dominance as inevitable. Nick Srnicek’s concept of platform capitalism reveals how this ‘fait accompli’ strategy systematically undermines democratic oversight. Platform workers lose basic employment protections, becoming atomised contractors subject to algorithmic management without recourse.
The Destruction of Democratic Discourse
Democracy requires informed public debate based on shared facts and evidence. BigTech has systematically demolished this foundation through several interconnected mechanisms. Misinformation and disinformation proliferate when profit motives reward polarisation over truth. This demolishes our media landscape—the “fourth estate” essential to democratic accountability. When algorithms amplify the most divisive content to maximise engagement, reasonable public discourse becomes impossible. Simultaneously, scientific and evidence-based policymaking comes under sustained attack. Climate change denial flourishes on platforms that prioritise engagement over accuracy, making collective action on existential threats nearly impossible.
The AI Race: Abandoning Public Values
The artificial intelligence arms race exemplifies BigTech’s contempt for democratic values. This technological development proceeds without public input, democratic oversight, or consideration of collective wellbeing. The ecological damage is enormous. High energy and water consumption for AI systems adds to global scarcity, with the most damaging effects falling on the world’s poor. Yet tech leaders like Eric Schmidt dismiss climate goals entirely, arguing that AI development must proceed regardless of environmental consequences. This represents a fundamental rejection of collective cooperation to overcome global threats. Instead of working together to address human-caused climate change and mass biodiversity loss, BigTech promotes a propagandised narrative of inevitable collapse that serves only to justify their technological determinism.
The Authoritarian Alliance
The alliance between BigTech and authoritarian movements represents the gravest threat to democratic governance. Leaders like Trump pursue political agendas designed to demolish democratic safeguards in the US, seeking to provoke chaos and reshape geopolitical power structures. Tech moguls like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel have embraced explicit far-right positions, offering support to ultra-nationalist movements worldwide. For them, democratic regulations represent “red tape” obstructing their path to greater wealth and political power. This alliance actively works to reverse hard-won social progress. Diversity, feminism, and LGBTQI+ movements are branded as undesirable, whilst a return to patriarchal culture is actively cultivated. Rights conquered after decades of social mobilisation face systematic cancellation.
The Ultimate Horror: Algorithmic Killing
The most dystopian development combines BigTech’s surveillance infrastructure with military violence. The “algorithmic killing pipeline” merges Amazon and Google’s surveillance technology and data centre capacity with probability-based target prediction systems that operate with minimal human oversight and consequently high error rates. When private technology corporations can determine who lives and dies through automated systems, we have crossed into territory that renders democratic governance impossible.
The Moment of Choice
The convergence of these trends represents an inflection point for human civilisation. We face a choice between two futures: one where technological power serves democratic values and human flourishing, or one where democracy itself becomes a quaint historical curiosity in the age of techno-authoritarianism. The construction of this alternative future is not inevitable, but it requires recognising the full scope of the threat we face. BigTech’s assault on democracy is systematic, comprehensive, and accelerating. Only by understanding its mechanisms can we begin to construct the alternatives that our democratic future demands. In our next article, we’ll explore the pathways forward—the concrete steps we can take to reclaim democratic control over technology and build systems that serve human flourishing rather than corporate power.
References: ¹ Carole Cadwalladr, who revealed the Cambridge Analytica scandal, talks about a “Digital Coup”; see here most recent TED talk (April 2025). “This Is What a Digital Coup Looks Like.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZOoT8AbkNE
² Marietje Schaake (2025). Princeton University Press. “The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley.”