How The Global South Is Pushing Back Against Big Tech

–Analysis–

SÃO PAULO — The news isn’t good. Just this past week, I heard from journalists who were harassed in U.S. airports and questioned — even about their professional work. Some were forced to hand over their social media passwords. I saw colleagues still living in the United States change their Signal chat app settings to auto-delete messages after being read, fearing that their criticisms of U.S. President Donald Trump’s government could lead to retaliation. 

Others, including professors, told me they’re thinking of pulling their money out of the U.S. and maybe looking for work abroad, convinced they’ll be targeted by Trumpist repression. 

It’s undeniable: The land of the free is no longer a free country.

For those living there, it’s an exasperating realization — one we incorporated generations ago in Latin America — that an authoritarian regime isn’t upheld only by decisions made at the top, but by how that authoritarianism seeps into the fabric of society. This is how the hunger for power goes to the head of the policeman around the corner, or to the so-called good citizen next door, who under a far-right government, suddenly decide to keep an eye on you.

Words of hope

Although the neo-fascists in the White House want the world to believe they wield absolute power — not just over the United States but over the globe — the truth is, politics doesn’t play out solely in palaces. Americans are about to learn that resistance begins in the everyday; that surrendering your liberties out of fear is the first step toward total defeat. There are already early signs of resistance, as Brazil expert James Green pointed out in Agência Pública.

Still, it’s far too little in the face of the regime’s very real and rhetorical violence — especially when its main weapon remains its absolute control of the narrative, through the constant creation and spread of disinformation that keeps its supporters fired up and the rest paralyzed. 

The world isn’t standing still, waiting on a handful of white men.

But for those who see no escape from the nightmare of authoritarianism fused with techno-oligarchy, let me remind you: the world isn’t standing still, waiting on a handful of white men. I bring a few words of hope. 

Recently in São Paulo, the Control+J Latin America conference took place, bringing together journalists, academics, politicians and members of civil society to discuss how platform regulation can support journalism sustainability. Organized by the think tank Momentum and the Association for Digital Journalism (AJOR), the event was the first in a series of four international meetings aimed at uniting Global South groups to improve their negotiating power with the platforms.

One thing became crystal clear: pressure to regulate Big Tech isn’t going away anytime soon. Speakers came from Indonesia, South Africa, Kenya, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay — proof that this issue is still galvanizing movements across the globe. And real progress is also being made.

Pressure to regulate tech

At the end of February, South Africa’s Competition Commission published a report demanding that Google pay $25 million over at least three years to local media outlets for anti-competitive practices in the ad market. 

The report also calls on the platform to improve its algorithms to eliminate bias favoring foreign press outlets in search results, for example. Facebook, for its part, is expected to stop suppressing journalistic content on its platforms. Another key demand: AI companies must engage in collective bargaining with South African media to pay for the use of their content in training AI tools.

Perhaps the age of oligopoly isn’t here to stay after all. 

On March 19, the European Commission made it clear that despite Trump’s many threats, it would continue enforcing antitrust laws against Big Tech. 

In a preliminary ruling, it found that both Apple and Google had violated the Digital Markets Act: Google for using its search engine to direct users to other Google services, and Apple for not allowing non-Apple devices to sync with its smartphones. If they don’t change course, they could face heavy fines.

And across the Atlantic, the U.S. Department of Justice is back at it. In March, it reiterated its support for breaking up Google’s monopoly in a lawsuit that could force the company to divest parts of its business to comply with U.S. antitrust laws. 

In a move deemed illegal, Google allegedly paid phone manufacturers and browser developers to make its search engine the default. That announcement came just a week after Alphabet execs reportedly met with Trump administration officials to ask for help, according to Reuters.

A downward spiral

Here in Brazil, the federal government is preparing a new proposal to regulate social media, messaging services, and search engines, along with a plan to target anti-competitive practices. There’s also the Artificial Intelligence bill, approved by the Senate last year, which is expected to hit the legislative agenda later this year. 

And Brazil’s Supreme Court is due to vote this semester on Article 19 of the Civil Rights Framework for the Internet — the clause that protects platforms from liability for user-posted content — following Justice André Mendonça’s request for review.

Perhaps the age of oligopoly isn’t here to stay after all. 

Since the beginning, much of Big Tech’s privilege was secured thanks to public goodwill — a belief that these companies were here to make the world a better place. But that ship has sailed. 

Don’t take my word for it. Multiple recent studies from the U.S. show that public trust in Big Tech is on the decline. I’ll highlight one Pew Research Center survey from last year in which 78% of respondents said they believe these companies have excessive power over politics.

By throwing their lot in with Trump’s deranged administration, Big Tech might just be speeding up that downward spiral — and losing their biggest shield in the process: our patience as users.