Big Tech's power is increasing and its impact on democratic and rule-of-law values, such as citizens' privacy and free competition in the economy, is growing. At the same time, Big Tech's monopoly threatens the more general institutional foundations that enable the protection of such values in the first place. Think of the strong, 'sovereign' state or union of states, the distinction between public and private, and citizenship. For action groups and meaningful alternatives to Big Tech, this has created a difficult situation. How did we get into this predicament?
Reijer Passchier, Professor of Digitalisation, discusses the curse of Big Tech, its impact on our society, and how we can ensure that Big Tech does not become even bigger, more powerful and dominant in the future.