Taking On The Big Tech Oligarchy
The Citizens' Techno-authoritarianism Fight Back Toolkit
With you, we are building a new political consciousness to challenge the power of Big Tech. What is happening in the US is a warning. Subscribe here and have full access to our livestreams, events and actions.
We understand that the issues at hand look daunting and overwhelming. Which is why the Citizens has been building a community of journalists, researchers, academics, artists, campaigners and citizens – so we can network, share resources and brainstorm together. There are only a few Tech Bros, and a lot of us.
Many of you have been asking us, what can you do in the face of technoauthoritarianism? So, we compiled a list! It is not exhaustive (and far from perfect), but it is a start.
1/ Educate: Understand how Big Tech got so Big!
Read:
Explainers & Reports
Big Tech – The rise of GAFAAMT | Transnational Institute
Confronting Tech Power | AI Now
Cronyism: AI Summit Edition: How the UK’s newly formed Frontier AI Taskforce is entrenched in Big Tech money and connections | The Citizens
Getting to the Source of Infodemics: It’s the Business Model | Ranking Digital Rights
How Google’s Ad Business Funds Disinformation Around the World | ProPublica
“I Feel Exposed”: Caught in TikTok’s Surveillance Web | Amnesty International
It’s Not Just the Content, It’s the Business Model: Democracy’s Online Speech Challenge | Ranking Digital Rights
Meta and AI: Clear and Present Dangers that Threaten Democracy, Economic Security and Privacy | The Citizens & Real Facebook Oversight Board
Myanmar: The social atrocity: Meta and the right to remedy for the Rohingya | Amnesty International
What is Big Tech’s surveillance-based business model? | Amnesty International
Articles
A new era dawns. America’s tech bros now strut their stuff in the corridors of power | Carole Cadwalladr, The Observer
Bots and ballots: How artificial intelligence is reshaping elections worldwide | Mark Scott, POLITICO, presented by Luminate
Facebook, Twitter and other social media companies need to be treated like Big Tobacco | Joan Donovan, NBC News
How Big Tech got so big: Hundreds of acquisitions | Chris Alcantara, Kevin Schaul, Gerrit De Vynck and Reed Albergotti, Washington Post
How Big Tech Got So Damn Big | Cory Doctorow, WIRED
Political leaders must push back against tech bullies | Marietje Schaake, Financial Times
The Cambridge Analytica Files | The Guardian
The Facebook Files | Wall Street Journal
The Roots of Big Tech Run Disturbingly Deep | Tim Wu and Stuart A. Thompson, New York Times
The Tech Bros Move Fast and Break Things – First Up: Democracy | Manasa Narayanan and Sabrina Provenzani, Byline Times & The Citizens
Books
Algorithms of Oppression How Search Engines Reinforce Racism | Safiya Noble
Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence | Kate Crawford
Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boys’ Club of Silicon Valley | Emily Chang
Data and Goliath: The Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World | Bruce Schneier
Feeding the Machine, the hidden human labor powering AI | James Muldoon
Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture | Kyle Chayka
How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future | Maria Ressa
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men | Caroline Criado Perez
Meme Wars: The Untold Story of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America | Joan Donovan
Privacy Is Power: Why and How You Should Take Back Control of Your Data | Carissa Véliz
Surveillance Valley: The Secret Military History of the Internet | Yasha Levine
Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech | Sara Wachter-Boettcher
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power | Shoshana Zuboff
The Algorithm: How AI Decides Who Gets Hired, Monitored, Promoted, and Fired | Hilke Schellmann
The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads | Tim Wu
The Little Black Book of Data and Democracy | Kyle Taylor
The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley | Marietje Schaake
The Walls Have Eyes: Surviving Migration in the Age of Artificial Intelligence | Petra Molnar
Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism | Anne Applebaum
Uncanny Valley: A Memoir | Anna Wiener
Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy | Cathy O’Neil
Your Face Belongs to Us: The Secretive Startup Dismantling Your Privacy | Kashmir Hill
Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe | Roger McNamee
[Note: McNamee, Ressa, Zuboff, Noble, Donovan and Schaake are members of the Real Facebook Oversight Board, a project by the Citizens. And Cadwalladr, Narayanan and Provenzani are part of the Citizens.]
Watch:
Movies & TV Shows
Black Mirror, 2011
Disconnect, 2012
Her, 2013
Snowden, 2016
The Circle, 2017
The Dropout, 2022
The Social Network, 2010
Years and Years, 2019
Documentaries
BlackBerry, 2023
Citizenfour, 2014
Coded Bias, 2020
iHuman, 2019
Phantom Parrot, 2023
Terms and Conditions May Apply, 2013
The Antisocial Network: Memes to Mayhem, 2024
The Billion Dollar Code, 2021
The Great Hack, 2019
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, 2019
The Social Dilemma, 2020
‘2073’, 2024
Videos
A Warning to America – 2073 and The Arrival of Techno Authoritarianism | The Citizens
Amazon | Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj | Netflix
Can we build a better Internet? | Tech Breakdown via The Real Facebook Oversight Board
Defeating Authoritarianism: How People and Media Can Stand Up for Freedom Now | Free Press
Facebook’s role in Brexit — and the threat to democracy | Carole Cadwalladr | TED
From Big Tech to AI, Have We Learnt? | A Conversation with Roger McNamee | Tech Breakdown via The Real Facebook Oversight Board
FTC Chair Lina Khan’s Exit Interview: Challenging AI, Big Tech and More | WSJ
India’s Two Bullies Silencing Dissent | A Conversation with Rana Ayyub | Tech Breakdown via The Real Facebook Oversight Board
Is Regulation The Big (Tech) Fix? | Tech Breakdown via The Real Facebook Oversight Board
Maria Ressa: How Social Media Uses Free Speech To Stifle Free Speech | The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
People as commodity: Cambridge Analytica & the Business of Big Data | Tech Breakdown via The Real Facebook Oversight Board
Search Engines, AI & The Politics Of Oppression | With Safiya Noble | Tech Breakdown via The Real Facebook Oversight Board
Shoshana Zuboff on surveillance capitalism | VPRO Documentary
The rise of Big Tech | Jonathan Haidt, Shannon Vallor, Yanis Varoufakis, & more | The Institute of Art and Ideas
The Rise of Techno-Authoritarianism | The Atlantic
What is it to be a woman in the digital age? | With The Good Robot | Tech Breakdown via The Real Facebook Oversight Board
Why people should govern surveillance technology | Marietje Schaake | TEDx
Young People Take On Big Tech | Tech Breakdown via The Real Facebook Oversight Board
[Note: We are the impact partner for the documentary feature 2073, directed by Oscar-winner Asif Kapadia.]
Share:
Book / film / music recommendations with the movement, by joining this Citizens community Signal group or emailing us on info@the-citizens.com
2/ Practice: Take small actions to limit the flow of data
- Use a privacy-friendly browser like Firefox or Safari
- Use ad blockers and anti-tracking tools
- Enable Google’s “Do Not Track” feature
- Clear cache and cookies regularly
- Change device-level privacy settings, like turning off location sharing
- Use a VPN to hide browser history
- Switch on incognito mode while browsing
- Limit what you share online, including on social media
- Be mindful of the privacy tradeoff of new apps
3/ Connect: Build solidarity and share ideas
The Citizens is the impact partner for Asif Kapadia’s documentary feature 2073, and this group has been created for people to connect, converse and fight back against the power of Big Tech; a theme at the core of Kapadia’s film. Asif and The Citizens team are here – but primarily it’s your space.
In order to join, you will need to install the Signal app. Signal is a bit like Whatsapp – but you can hide your phone number and it’s not owned by Big Tech!
- Send us ideas for events and workshops on info@the-citizens.com
- Want to collaborate with us and host an event/workshop yourself? Reach out on info@the-citizens.com
4/ Rebuild: Rethink the Internet and our relationship with it
- Attend these events and workshops
We continue to advertise our events and workshops on this page, in case there aren’t any on at the moment, try the page again soon!