The world has witnessed various shades of power dynamics. Sometimes, small kingdoms have transformed themselves into gigantic empires, while other times, great empires were fragmented into small nation-states.
Sometimes, small states conglomerated themselves into unions like the United States of America, but the other times, enormous unions like the USSR were disintegrated into independent states. Historians and political scientists have analyzed such events and jotted down the world order. Francis Fukuyama claimed the overwhelming victory of the neoliberal world order, emphasizing the cradle of unipolarity over the end of bipolarity; while the thesis of S.P. Huntington gave hints of the onset of multipolarity in the form of distinct civilizational uprisings.
Such polarities are now, interestingly, being subdued by technology. The rapid advancement of technology in the form of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Algorithms is paving the way for Techno-polarity. Experts and scholars like Ian Bremmer and Yuval Noah Harari have shown their deep concerns regarding the unprecedented challenges of the giant tech companies. It might be inferred from their views that Techno-polarity would possibly supersede all other polarities.
The propagation of information through various platforms of tech companies directly hits the emotions of the masses .
It is evident that the US, despite being the most powerful state and having commendable ingenuity, has to bear the brunt of The Great Hack during its presidential election, in 2016. The democratic values of free and fair elections were subdued due to the influence of a giant tech company Facebook, now known as Meta. This is not the only incident in which a single tech company was used to interfere in the state’s matter, rather the US has faced multifaceted challenges from other giant tech companies as well that threatened its sovereignty, national security, cybersecurity, and the treasury. For instance, in 2019, the US banned China’s Huawei for national security purposes. The 5G networks of Huawei were deemed by the US as an espionage tactic of China to steal intellectual property from the US.
Likewise, TikTok of the Chinese ByteDance company was also considered as a leading challenge by the US officials because of its increasing influence in the US public. Both the Trump and Biden administrations in their respective governmental tenure have shown reservations over the usage of TikTok in the US due to national security concerns. They were of the view that TikTok might potentially provide information and data of the US citizens to China which would be used to spread misinformation or wage a propaganda war.
Surprisingly, Trump has activated a TikTok account recently, despite his move to ban it during his regime, in 2020. Within a day, he gained more than 1 million followers, his post got 1 million likes and 24 million views. Trump knows very well that TikTok has about 170 million users in the US, most of whom are the American youth. Thus, it would be influential enough for his political campaign in the upcoming presidential election of November 2024. It shows the penetration of technology outfits into the politics of the US state.
It goes without saying that giant tech companies are penetrating societies to a great extent that people can easily be manipulated. Their behaviour might be shaped according to the patterns of digital algorithms. For instance, the riot in the Capitol on January 06, 2021, was the result of the hype created on social media platforms through speeches and posts against the writ of the state. However, tech giants like Twitter and Facebook have quickly suspended the accounts of then-president Donald Trump for praising the rioters. Apple and Google have removed The Parler – a social media app of the conservatives- from their app stores to restrict further emanating chaos from the Red party followers. The surprising phenomenon is that the pace or speed of the tech companies in handling chaotic situations is far better and quicker than the institutions of the US government. It was Microsoft, not the US Cyber Command or National Security Agency, which identified the Russian intruders and prevented the hackers from damaging the US government and private companies in 2020. This shows the power and capability of tech companies that might further strengthen the ground for a Techno-polar world.
Gone are the days when Google retreated from the project Maven, rejecting the Pentagon’s requests to analyze drone footage and improve targets. Likewise, Apple has rejected the request of the US government to crack encrypted smartphones. Now, it has become a matter of debate whether the government would be able to reign over the tech companies or whether the tech companies would subdue the power of the government. The US government is there for the people and by the people but people are extravagantly using social media platforms and overwhelmingly depending on the giant tech companies for information, needs, and entertainment. Every month, Google reports that more than 1 billion hours of YouTube videos are being consumed, Facebook counts 3 billion active users, and such enormous numbers are expected on other platforms as well. Moreover, the propagation of information through various platforms of tech companies directly hits the emotions of the masses and convinces them to act accordingly. Such information can appease or tease the audiences according to their preferences.
No doubt, tech companies influence almost all important domains including security, society, economy, politics and even the mindsets of people. However, the spy agency of the US has established an Echelon Surveillance System to monitor global communication. However, more concrete steps are needed to keep a check on the Tech companies.
The US, being the most powerful state, is expected to sort out the unprecedented challenges posed by the giant tech companies. In history, there was an East India Company, which was not expected to rule over a massive territory but the company expanded and transformed itself into a great power. Likewise, the giant tech companies including Amazon, Apple, Alibaba, Meta, Google, Tancent, and ByteDance would also establish their empires in the digital space of the world subduing the influence of the US. This move into a digital territory would be much stronger and unpredictable than the physical space. Let’s see how techno-polarity would prevail in the coming era.
The writer is a student at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, and can be reached at [email protected].