The digital and tech giants began with cuddly logos and hip slogans but they are rapidly turning into a 21st century version of Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis' as with breakneck speed they turn into the largest corporations the world has ever seen. (Apple alone is worth more than the GDP of 90% of the countries in the world). Many now see them as malevolent monopolies, with massive largely untaxed profits that manipulate our behaviour for their own benefit. Some even claim the epidemic of mental ill health can be laid at their door.
If we decide we want to escape from their vision of the future, is there anything we can do to stop them? Does their power and influence signal the loss of control of national governments to global corporations? Or are the fears overdone and is it still possible for governments to fight back? And if so how?
Author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism Shoshana Zuboff, Conservative MP Bim Afolami, author of Zed, Joanna Kavenna, and Labour MP Angela Eagle debate the power and peril of the tech giants.
In association with Prospect