Abstract
This chapter examines the socio-political impacts of big tech in the 21st century. The chapter begins by examining the rise of big tech, and it compares the power and reach of big tech with the auto industry. The chapter next turns its attention to the concept of surveillance capitalism and reviews arguments developed by Shoshana Zuboff. Specifically, this section examines how capitalism has undergone fundamental changes in the digital age that require new responses to protect fundamental human rights. The chapter concludes by examining some of the key developments of surveillance capitalism, including facial recognition as well as government responses.
TopThe Rise Of Big Tech Companies
Hitherto, the intellectual powers of the world have owned outstanding newspapers; however, Big Tech companies, collectively known as FAAMG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Google), care little about the content of information and discussion. Their main goal is to increase the number of readers and revenue from advertising and sales based on behavior profiles delivered by marketing companies and unique services. Of course, these information technology giants (Table 1) censor unfavorable opinions and promote chaos and information disorientation as part of their “intellectual” wisdom. The current challenges of civilization mentioned in this section have no chance of overcoming the culture of hate on social networks and solving the problems of humanity.
Table 1. Comparison of Big Tech (FAAMG) business with automotive companies in 2018
| Company | Annual Sales (in Billions of US Dollars) | Market Value of the Company
(in Billions of US Dollars) | Number of Employees | Productivity
per 1 Employee
(in US dollars) |
| Facebook | 55 | 188 | 44,000 | |
| Amazon | 233 | 920 | 648,000 | |
| Apple | 266 | 268 | 123,000 | |
| Microsoft | 110 | 160 | 148,000 | |
| Google | 137 | 1,303 | 100,000 | |
| Total | 801 | 2,839 | 1,063,000 | 2,671,000 |
| Volkswagen | 11,8 | 74 | 656,000 | |
| Renault-Nissan | 10,3 | 43 | 183,000 | |
| Toyota | 9,7 | 186 | 369,000 | |
| General Motors | 7,7 | 144 | 173,000 | |
| Ford | 4,9 | 46 | 199,000 | |
| Total | 44.4 | 490 | 1,580,000 | 28,101 |
Market value of the company = number of shares sold (including as bonuses) x share price
Key Terms in this Chapter
Surveillance Capitalism: An economic system in which the sale of personal data is a central activity.
Shoshana Zuboff: An American professor at Harvard Business School whose works have analyzed surveillance capitalism.
B. F. Skinner: An American psychologist, well renowned for his works in behaviorism.
FAAMG: An abbreviation standing for Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Google, originally formulated by Goldman Sachs to indicate the top tech stocks.
Globalization: The process by which people, companies, and governments increasing interact and become integrated across the globe. This process has been accelerated by ICT technologies.
Facial Recognition: A technology that can identify a human based on a digital image.