BACKGROUNDERNo. 3678 | February 7, 2022CeNTer FOr TeCHNOLOGy POLICyThis paper, in its entirety, can be found at http://report.heritage.org/bg3678The Heritage Foundation | 214 Massachusetts avenue, Ne | Washington, DC 20002 | (202) 546-4400 | heritage.orgNothing written here is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of The Heritage Foundation or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before Congress.Combating Big Tech’s Totalitarianism: A Road MapKara FrederickThe growing symbiosis between big Tech and government gives these companies undue influence over americans’ daily lives and undermines their rights.KEY TAKEAWAYSbig Tech has increasingly exercised perva-sive control of information and access to the digital space in ways that undermine freedom and a functioning republic.It is time for aggressive reforms to ensure that big Tech is held accountable, provide scrutiny and oversight, and constrain its ability to reshape society.Too many gatekeepers of information for the American public—elite media, academia, gov-ernment institutions, and various organs of the culture—are captured by leftist ideology. As the past year has borne out, Big Tech companies are not afraid to exercise their power in the service of this ide-ology.1 Given their positions as global oligopolies, the ability of Big Tech companies to manipulate the flow of information renders their actions transformative. Every American should be concerned about Big Tech’s willingness to shut off direct access to digital infor-mation, their demonstrated pattern of information manipulation, and their impact on America’s culture of free speech.Beyond this, the growing symbiosis between Big Tech and government, the constriction of digital life, the pernicious targeting and exploitation of the next
February 7, 2022 | 2BACKGROUNDER | No. 3678heritage.orggeneration, and the expansion of digital surveillance will accelerate the stratification of American society. If current patterns are not disrupted, conservatives will bear the brunt of this tech-enabled classification system implemented hand-in-glove with the government. This report examines the developing landscape and issues a call for conservatives to push back against the trend toward totalitarianism in America that is being ushered in with the help of Big Tech.Big Tech’s Information MonopolyInformation Manipulation. A handful of Big Tech corporations now manipulate the flow of information in such an expansive way as to fun-damentally reshape the public discourse. The past year demonstrated that suppression of conservative viewpoints by technology companies can materially impact the body politic.2 For example, tech corporations actively insert themselves between “the user and content” in increasingly ideological ways.3 l An October 2021 poll by research firm McLaughlin and Associates found that 52 percent of Americans believ...
