Summary
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez claimed tech billionaires are using social media to undermine democracy by exploiting algorithms to spread disinformation and manipulate society for personal agendas.
He criticized platforms for fostering division, undermining democratic processes, and concentrating power among elites.
Sánchez proposed EU regulations, including requiring digital identification for social media users and holding platform owners accountable under the Digital Services Act.
He also condemned Elon Musk and Peter Thiel for promoting reactionary and anti-democratic ideas, urging Europe to counter the “tech caste.”
I mean…yeah like Jaron Lanier warned about technocracy being distasteful of democracy in one half a manifesto which was published in 2000 I believe. And anyone who was on 4chan before 2016 would know about /lit/ recommends on nick land and moldbug saying nerds will be new techno philosopher kings replacing democracy with some fever dream of digital feudalism, but you could be talking about this stuff since 2000 and peoples eyes would still glaze over. It’s late? People still don’t even seem to care even though they bitch about centralized platforms. People still think you’re just over exaggerating or weird for saying social media owned by corporations is giving corporations way too much power over public discourse and culture.