The path forward to rein in online surveillance, AI, and tech monopolies ​Technology is a gift and a curse. The five Big Tech companies—Meta, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google—have built innovative products that improve many aspects of our lives. But their intrusiveness and our dependence on them have created pressing threats to our civil rights, economy, and democracy. Coming from an extensive background building Silicon Valley–based tech startups, Tom Kemp eloquently and precisely weaves together the threats posed by Big Tech: • the overcollection and weaponization of our most sensitive data • the problematic ways Big Tech uses AI to process and act upon our data • the stifling of competition and entrepreneurship due to Big Tech’s dominant market position This richly detailed book exposes the consequences of Big Tech’s digital surveillance, exploitative use of AI, and monopolistic and anticompetitive practices. It offers actionable solutions to these problems and a clear path forward for individuals and policymakers to advocate for change. By containing the excesses of Big Tech, we will ensure our civil rights are respected and preserved, our economy is competitive, and our democracy is protected.

The reign of Big Tech is here, and Americans’ First Amendment rights hang by a keystroke. Amassing unimaginable amounts of personal data, giants like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple—once symbols of American ingenuity and freedom—have become a techno-oligarchy with overwhelming economic and political power. Decades of unchecked data collection have given Big Tech more targeted control over Americans’ daily lives than any company or government in the world. In The Tyranny of Big Tech, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri argues that these mega-corporations—controlled by the robber barons of the modern era—are the gravest threat to American liberty in decades. To reverse course, Hawley argues, we must correct progressives’ mistakes of the past. That means recovering the link between liberty and democratic participation, building an economy that makes the working class strong, independent, and beholden to no one, and curbing the influence of corporate and political elites. Big Tech and its allies do not deal gently with those who cross them, and Senator Hawley proudly bears his own battle scars. But hubris is dangerous. The time is ripe to overcome the tyranny of Big Tech by reshaping the business and legal landscape of the digital world.

Like other large global corporations, the technology sector known as “Big Tech” possesses the money and power to disproportionately influence society. But so far, many of these companies have escaped scrutiny and regulation while enjoying the benefits of a relatively new—and not always understood—medium. Should social media companies be considered publishers, being held accountable for spreading misinformation? Does technology increase extremism and other harmful behaviors? Is it too late to change? The viewpoints in this volume explore the fascinating debate surrounding what responsibility Big Tech should take when it comes to upholding democratic principles.

Adopting an evolutionary perspective, this Research Handbook presents novel and cutting-edge insights into the interdisciplinary field of legal evolution. Engaging with various scientific approaches, it provides a versatile analysis of legal evolution, examining the field as a whole as well as in the context of specific branches of law.

"In this eye-opening, must-read book, a political insider and tech expert explains what's at stake for our tech-enabled lives-and what we can do about it. Neither an industry apologist nor irrational fearmonger, Alexis Wichowski considers the unchecked rise of tech giants like Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Tesla-what she calls "net states"-and their growing and unavoidable influence in our lives. Combining original reporting, extensive research, and interviews with technology and government insiders, including Microsoft president Brad Smith, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and the world's first ambassador to Silicon Valley, Alexis Wichowski explores what happens when we cede our power to tech giants, willingly trading our personal freedom and individual autonomy for an easy, plugged-in existence. Written for the tech-savvy and tech-phobic alike, The Information Trade lays out how net states are conquering countries, challenging our rights, and transforming our future. Most importantly, it shows what we can do to control our relationship with net states before they irreversibly alter how we are governed, how we think, how we act, and how we live"--

Named a Best Book of the Year by Esquire Winner of the 800–CEO–READ Business Book Award in Current Events and Public Affairs In an era when faith in government and its institutions is quickly eroding, the businesses of Silicon Valley are stepping in to fill the gap. With outsize supplies of cash, talent, and ambition, a small group of corporations have been gradually seizing leadership—and consumer confidence—around the world. In Silicon States, renowned futurist and celebrated international think–tank leader Lucie Greene offers an unparalleled look at the players, promises, and potential problems of Big Tech. Through interviews with corporate leaders, influential venture capitalists, scholars, journalists, activists, and more, Greene explores the tension inherent in Silicon Valley's global influence. If these companies can invent a social network, how might they soon transform our political and health–care systems? If they can revolutionize the cell phone, what might they do for space travel, education, or the housing market? As Silicon Valley faces increased scrutiny over its mistreatment of women, cultural shortcomings, and its role in widespread Russian election interference, we are learning where its interests truly lie, and about the great power these companies wield over an unsuspecting citizenry. While the promise of technology is seductive, it is important to understand these corporations' possible impacts on our political and socioeconomic institutions. Greene emphasizes that before we hand our future over to a rarefied group of companies, we should examine the world they might build and confront its benefits, prejudices, and inherent flaws. Silicon States pushes us to ask if, ultimately, this is the future we really want.

Uncover the hidden systems created by the most powerful tech companies in the world that are determined to stop Donald Trump. Journalist Allum Bokhari has spent four years investigating the tech giants that dominate the Internet: Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter. He has discovered a dark plot to seize control of the flow of information, and utilize that power to its full extent—to censor, manipulate, and ultimately sway the outcome of democratic elections. His network of whistleblowers inside Google, Facebook and other companies explain how the tech giants now see themselves as "good censors," benevolent commissars controlling the information we receive to "protect" us from "dangerous" speech. They reveal secret methods to covertly manipulate online information without us ever being aware of it, explaining how tech companies can use big data to target undecided voters. They lift the lid on a plot four years in the making—a plot to use the power of technology to stop Donald Trump's re-election.