Today’s media is replete with stories heralding how tech-based billionaires are exercising excessive power over the course of history. In fact, in 2021 I published a book (Roadmap to a Brighter Future, Matt Holt, 2021) in which “Tech Lords Rule” was one of four plausible scenarios for the future of the United States, shaped by two critical forces: the pace of economic innovation and growth, and the degree to which that innovation and growth was equitable and inclusive. And of those four scenarios posited, “Tech Lords Rule,” now appears to be the one most in the ascendancy.
This scenario envisioned a future where innovation-driven growth would be supercharged by deregulation friendly to big business, while investments in public health and social safety nets would be pared back. In such an environment, inequality would widen dramatically, even as surface-level progress on social justice issues provided the appearance of reform. Meanwhile, the natural environment would become increasingly vulnerable, sacrificed to the imperatives of growth and profit. What was once a projection now reads like today’s headlines.
Media concentration is one of the clearest markers of this trend. According to multiple assessments, 40% of local TV stations are now under the control of just three conglomerates. A quarter of American newspapers are owned by only ten companies. Social media—the public square of the digital age—is dominated by a handful of billionaires. Even late-night television, once a haven for cultural critique, has seen recent corporate decisions that highlight the risks of consolidated ownership. The implications for freedom of speech and the vibrancy of democratic debate are profound.
The broader social effects are equally troubling. Ongoing threats to public safety from violence incited on social platforms, rising youth alienation and anxiety—described by Jonathan Haidt in The Anxious Generation as an “epidemic of mental illness”—and the deepening of political polarization through deliberate misinformation campaigns all point to the darker consequences of a system where power is concentrated in so few hands. The very connective technologies that promised to democratize knowledge and empower citizens are now being wielded in ways that risk undermining trust in institutions and corroding the fabric of civic life.
Yet, even as the “Tech Lords” scenario seems more likely, it need not be destiny. History reminds us that periods of concentration and imbalance have often provoked corrective responses. Public pushback against monopolies in the late 19th century ushered in antitrust reforms. The turmoil of the 1930s spurred the creation of safety nets that still provide resilience today. And more recently, citizens and lawmakers alike have begun to question the unchecked power of major tech platforms. The U.S. Justice Department’s landmark antitrust case against Google (2023), the Federal Trade Commission’s challenges to Meta and Amazon practices (2023–24), and bipartisan proposals in Congress to strengthen digital competition all reflect a growing recognition of the stakes. Abroad, the European Union’s Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act (both enacted in 2022) are signaling that other democracies are willing to set guardrails around Big Tech.
The power of concentrated wealth and influence is formidable, but not unassailable. Civil society, grassroots activism, informed journalism, and responsive leadership all have roles to play in ensuring that innovation does not come at the cost of democracy and social well-being. Encouragingly, new counterweights are already emerging. Cities like Chattanooga, Tennessee, have pioneered municipal broadband to expand affordable access and reduce dependence on corporate giants (Brookings, 2020). In Oakland, California, community-run internet cooperatives are taking root (GovTech, 2024). Globally, Estonia’s e-governance system has become a model of transparent digital democracy, while Brazil’s participatory budgeting platforms continue to broaden civic engagement. Youth-led digital movements, from Fridays for Future to grassroots campaigns against online misinformation, are creating communities that resist manipulation while pressing for climate action, equity, and accountability. These bottom-up efforts may be scattered, but together they show that creativity and agency remain widely distributed—even in an age of concentrated power.
While the “Tech Lords Rule” scenario might capture the present trajectory, it does not have to define the future. The story of American democracy has always been one of course corrections, where citizens collectively reassert values of fairness, accountability, and inclusion. If the dangers of concentrated power are increasingly visible, so too is the opportunity for renewal. With vigilance and imagination, the very technologies that today seem to imperil democracy could yet be harnessed to strengthen it—broadening voices, empowering communities, and ensuring that the promise of innovation serves not just the few, but the many. The stakes are high, demanding collective action to inspire a democratic rebirth.