The Unintended Consequences of Technology

CHAPTER 2Tech-States: Are Nation-States Obsolete?

The tech-state, which is synonymous with BigTech, refers to the big technology companies that have an outsized social, economic, political, and environmental impact on the world, both positive and negative. Examples of such companies include Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft. The convenience of tech offerings has made the general public numb to the dangers. And having meaningful regulation from nation-states over tech-states is difficult, due to their outsized influence and power. In many ways, these tech-states have replaced nation-states, all without the responsibilities of providing citizens with social services. This chapter explores these tech mega-powers and discusses how these new outsized forces require new oversight.

Governments around the world are having a hard time figuring out how to regulate technology companies on issues like employee mistreatment, freedom of speech, climate change, and a myriad of other issues that are essential to humanity and our planet. Due to their transnational operations, no single government has yet cracked the code on how to keep them in check when they have so much power. These tech-state companies appear to feel as if they are almost invincible!

A QUICK LOOK AT THE NATION-STATE

A nation-state is a sovereign state whose citizens or subjects are relatively homogeneous in factors such as language or common descent. There are four essential features of a nation-state: population, ...