Big Tech has loomed over both society and government for a while now.
That idea is undeniable. But with Trump taking office in January, there’s been a shift in Big Tech’s politics that offers a spineless kowtowing to the current administration’s ideologies.
The interference from the industry is both internal and external. Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency gifts the richest man in the world a ridiculous amount of power over government spending. Mark Zuckerberg’s reversal of content moderation policies, including dropping fact-checkers, opens up another avenue for blatant lies to be spread.
And now, most recently, Jeff Bezos’ orders for the Washington Post to be “writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets.”
Differing opinions regarding Bezos’ pillars are being directed to be “published by others.”
This has led the Post’s opinions editor David Shipley to resign, and rightfully so. To ignore dissenting opinions on personal liberties and free markets is absurd. It is a baffling tell of Bezos’ allegiances. It’s a purposefully vague outline of what you cannot write at the Washington Post. That’s dangerous.
Billionaires and journalism do not mix. Yes, Bezos has every ability to do this since he owns the company. That’s a given. If you think that that’s where the argument regarding this ends, I believe you’re quite mistaken.
This isn’t the first time Bezos has enacted some political blockade on the Washington Post, as he nixed the Post’s endorsement of former presidential candidate Kamala Harris in Oct. 2024.
It’s fitting that the Post’s slogan is “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” As of now, it feels more like a prophecy Bezos is looking to achieve rather than a warning.
Support for this measure has majorly come from the right. What a shock that the same side that housed claims that social media platforms were censoring their beliefs, which had no factual grounding, is now rooting for censoring dissension of opinions against Bezos’ pillars.
Big Tech’s overreach is clear. It’s damaging society. Musk’s purchase of X, formerly Twitter, has resulted in a 50% increase in hate speech according to a recent study.
Another study done by researchers at the University of California shows that Republicans are 21% more likely to spread misinformation during times of “high political polarization.” Something that now can breathe more freely on a less-moderated Facebook. Or a more right-leaning X platform.
This isn’t the first time industries have created a stranglehold on government or society. Rail barons, oil barons, pharma barons and now tech barons paint a long history of industrial-governmental collusion.
This rebirth of the robber barons from the days of old, headed by Bezos, Musk and Zuckerberg is going to suck up to the current government either out of cowardice, fear or cronyism. Maybe all three.
No one should be thrilled about this. Anyone who is celebrating this is woefully misguided. This aristocratic oligarchy isn’t your friend. They don’t care about you. You are a pawn. Another dollar sign from your data that they broker.
When was it ever cool to root for these billionaires? These guys will screw you over and pervert capitalism while doing it. That’s the type of people you’re going to celebrate being on your side?
What happened to not being tread on? Where’s that American fire there?
Everything happening between Big Tech and the government is not new. We’ve seen the rise of these barons and the fall of them. Although this iteration of them is far from over, with the country only one month into this administration’s tenure, I have no intention of giving in or giving up and I don’t think you should either.
It’s bleak. I’d be lying to say anything otherwise. But if we make it out of all this, in any condition, it’s our responsibility to remember who was complicit and stood by them.