The Path of Big Tech and World Domination
As we hear the argument about tech companies taking over the responsibility of governments, our minds technically travel back to the early days of Covid19 pandemic, when everything suddenly became virtual. This downturn had no alternative, which made every sector reliant on technology. Technology has played a dominant role in implementing government systems on a political front. We have already been citizens of countries, and we are increasingly becoming citizens of large technological enterprises. This change stems from technology companies exercising their sovereignty over digital spaces, and tech giants are beginning to resemble nation-states and countries themselves. In the matter of power, we can’t deny that tech giants dominate each sector. The government fears this power of dominance, which made them implement limits on these companies’ abilities. However, no matter what governments do, tech giants greatly influence the country’s political and economic aspects.
Tech Giants Dominate the Government
It’s said that No matter how tiny you look, you can lead huge men if you have what the huge men don’t have. In that case, tech giants are the tiny man, of course, only compared to a state government! This saying is perfectly consistent with the current situation that’s going on with the government and technology because tech giants have capabilities that governments don’t have, which makes them the dominant factor. Therefore, the government can only practice its dominance with the presence of tech giants firms. And, of course, you’re wondering how the tech giants influenced the political sector. There is no single answer to this question; we can view it from the same way we classify the government as democratic or authoritarian. These tech companies also have different models.
Companies Aligning with the Government
Yes, it’s happening! Some tech giants chose to align with the government instead of competing. This means that tech giants have agreed to let the government take authority over the digital world under their supervision. Technically, allying with the government is done with a given intention in their minds; for example, some tech giants collaborate with the government to get an advanced technical renovation. According to Bremmer, In the United States, Microsoft is working with the government and allied with the new Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (C.D.C.) formed by the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency to strengthen cyber defenses and promote resilience. They are also taking other steps to protect the nation’s cybersecurity, such as notifying federal agencies attacked or compromised by state actors and enhancing reporting to C.I.S.A. As a result, Microsoft adopted this strategy to gain control over the government while maintaining good relations and to avoid competing against the U.S. authorities.
Microsoft already funded $ 150 million to help the federal state advance its technical services. Wagner explained that they invested $ 50 million to provide federal agencies with modernization support that protects applications and servers by replacing vulnerable legacy infrastructure with continuously patched and up-to-date cloud infrastructure. So, what they’re doing is helping the government modernize, secure, and defend their digital heritage using the best practices and cloud security capabilities that have been put in place based on insights from their journey. On the other hand, tech giants in China agree to cooperate with the government, and they rarely have any competition. Also, Authoritarian rulers believe they cannot maintain power by relying solely on power; it also requires collaboration with big tech, especially with the rising pandemic.
Companies Wanting Governments out of Their Way
Sometimes, when you chat with your friends on the phone, do you wonder if the government is watching you? That’s the case when big tech aligns with governments; for this reason, some want government out of their way. For example, Apple has adopted an anti-government strategy to keep the government from accessing customer data. Apple protected the right to privacy of people and refused to hack into phones on behalf of government agencies.
As a result, Apple views the government as a significant threat that will cause it to lose people’s trust. Respecting people’s privacy made their protocol a public focus in advertising and marketing. Moreover, this incident weakened the government’s authority, and people began to see big tech as a higher authority.
Companies Wanting Tech Giants to Replace Governments
Technology and social media companies now significantly affect the rights and freedoms of billions of people because of their growing global influence. However, tech firms are now taking things further and acting as governments. Big tech companies exercise sovereignty in a sector that is rapidly growing outside of the regulatory reach of the internet. These businesses operate under the premise that “crypto is the future,” Some even go so far as to predict that cryptocurrency will eventually supplant all other forms of money. For example, Ian Bremmer stated that the digital currency Ethereum was founded by Vitalik Buterin, who believes there won’t be any U.S. dollar currency in the future because of cryptocurrencies. He explained that the digital currency would diminish the American sovereign ability to print money. However, this time new-technology companies, not China, are to blame. Therefore, to abolish the influence of the government, these businesses develop strategies to replace the government.
Tech Giants’ Economic Domination and State Sovereignty Influence
Big tech exerts a great deal of power in the world economy. Governments are working on modern capitalism, while Big Tech is working on a completely different concept of digital capitalism.
Many corporations are more financially powerful than the states seeking to regulate them. Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet had surpassed the $1 trillion milestone in market value. Moreover, Big Tech companies have become highly financialized cash machines for their shareholders and executives. These developments are reminiscent of earlier transformative epochs, not least the second half of the nineteenth century. The economic growth of Big Tech will decrease the government’s effect on state sovereignty in the country since people will become more dependent on technology. According to Professor Susan Crawford, the largest tech companies are already powerful enough to have their infrastructures, from Amazon’s private internet service to the health care systems now in the works at Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JP Morgan Chase.
Final Thoughts
The influence of the telecommunications sector on politics and economics is an inescapable truth. The pandemic made it clear that the telecommunication sector controls all industries. Abruptly, big techs turned into the world’s most powerful elite. The question will arise: Will big tech become the government? Is the government willing to accept the idea that technology is taking over its powers, or will the war continue? Only time will tell which of these will prevail, but the bets are present in the means, and the future of global order and the global economy will be fought increasingly in this space over these issues. Governments and Big techs are fighting over total authority even though the governments know that technology is unstoppable.
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