The Ever-increasing Power of the Internet Giants
Type de matériel :
100
For several years now, Jean-François Soupizet has been tracking the major trends in the digital and tech worlds for Futuribles, together with developments among the various players in that sector. Expressing concern over the complex web of relations between the digital giants and nation-states and the impact of those relations in (economic, political and legal) power terms, he delves back into these issues in a context where Big Tech is enhancing its power and extending it to new fields that are likely to disrupt sociopolitical and even geopolitical equilibria even more radically than at present.Jean-François Soupizet shows first how the Internet giants have been able in recent years to consolidate their positions, but also to invest in strategic infrastructure (data centres, undersea cables, the space sector etc.) to guarantee their hold over communications vectors worldwide. He also stresses the massive investments they have made in research and innovation in most of the technologies of the future: a troubling development bringing with it a range of vulnerabilities, says Soupizet, “which calls for the renewed involvement of states” (on cybersecurity, ecological impacts, data protection etc.). Lastly, in view of this new context, he suggests four potential courses of development in the balance of power between the Tech Giants and states, depending on geopolitical configurations (balkanization versus globalization): “towards global oligopolies”, “multilateral regulation”, collusion between Big Tech and illiberal regimes, or “balkanization and the exacerbation of inequalities”.
Réseaux sociaux