Presented by Wired Italy in collaboration with Bocconi University, The Big Interview shines a spotlight on the most relevant issues of our time through in-depth conversations and one-to-one discussions between Wired journalists and some of the most influential figures in technology, business, science, entertainment, and beyond, including Marietje Schaake, author of The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley.
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About The Tech Coup:
Over the past decades, under the cover of 鈥渋nnovation,鈥� technology companies have successfully resisted regulation and have even begun to seize power from governments themselves. Facial recognition firms track citizens for police surveillance. Cryptocurrency has wiped out the personal savings of millions and threatens the stability of the global financial system. Spyware companies sell digital intelligence tools to anyone who can afford them. This new reality鈥攚here unregulated technology has become a forceful instrument for autocrats around the world鈥攊s terrible news for democracies and citizens.
In The Tech Coup, Marietje Schaake offers a behind-the-scenes account of how technology companies crept into nearly every corner of our lives and our governments. She takes us beyond the headlines to high-stakes meetings with human rights defenders, business leaders, computer scientists, and politicians to show how technologies鈥攆rom social media to artificial intelligence鈥攈ave gone from being heralded as utopian to undermining the pillars of our democracies. To reverse this existential power imbalance, Schaake outlines game-changing solutions to empower elected officials and citizens alike. Democratic leaders can鈥攁nd must鈥攔esist the influence of corporate lobbying and reinvent themselves as dynamic, flexible guardians of our digital world.
Drawing on her experiences in the halls of the European Parliament and among Silicon Valley insiders, Schaake offers a frightening look at our modern tech-obsessed world鈥攁nd a clear-eyed view of how democracies can build a better future before it is too late.