<
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/04/17/the-de-in-decentralization-stands-for-democracy/>
"There’s a certain dark irony in watching tech billionaires who built their
empires on the “democratizing power of technology” now actively working to
dismantle democratic institutions. The same figures who once championed
connection and openness are now the architects of the most dangerous
centralization of power in modern history.
This is why I wrote last month that
Techdirt is now unavoidably a democracy
blog. As I explained then:
This isn’t about politics — it’s about the systematic dismantling of the
very infrastructure that made American innovation possible. For those in the
tech industry who supported this administration thinking it would mean less
regulation or more “business friendly” policies: you’ve catastrophically
misread the situation (which many people tried to warn you about). While
overregulation (which, let’s face it, we didn’t really have) can be bad,
it’s nothing compared to the destruction of the stable institutional
framework that allowed American innovation to thrive in the first place.
The connection between technology and democracy isn’t just academic — it’s
existential. And nobody articulated this relationship more clearly than
Taiwan’s former digital minister Audrey Tang, who explained how Taiwan’s
democratic revolution and digital revolution were literally inseparable:
“We’re the first generation that enjoyed freedom of speech after three
decades of martial law and dictatorship. It arrived in 1989 with personal
computers. For us, personal computer revolution and freedom of speech are
the same thing. And our first Presidential election was in 1996 was also
[the same time as] the popularization of the World Wide Web…. So the
internet, democracy are not two things. They’re one and the same thing in
Taiwan.
That statement has stuck with me ever since I saw it back then, and I’ve been
thinking about it even more lately.
What’s particularly striking is how this perspective contrasts with our current
moment — when many tech leaders have actively aligned themselves against
democratic values and in favor of authoritarianism. The connection Tang
identified isn’t just philosophical; it’s a practical blueprint for how
technology and democracy can mutually reinforce each other.
But it’s also a warning sign. When technologies designed to empower users lose
that essential quality, they become perfect tools for authoritarians."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
