Big Tech and the Nation-State

Abstract

This opening chapter introduces the historical background of the rise of Big Tech and defines a range of important concepts, such as cyber-sovereigntyCyber-sovereignty and digital governance, by describing and elaborating on the rise of the so-called Big Five or “FAAMGFAAMG” group of giant U.S. digital technology firms: Facebook, AppleApple, AmazonAmazon, MicrosoftMicrosoft, and Google. It also compares the countermeasures of the governments of the world’s two largest economies—the United States and China—to present the role of states in an era marked by the rise of Big Tech firmsBig Tech firms to the status of significant actors in world politics. The power of these firms derives from the two characteristics in the appellation “Big Tech”: they have the dual advantages of a large size and scale in the global market and advanced technological capabilities in hardware and software serving Internet and mobile endpoints. Endowed with these advantages, Big Tech is playing an increasingly significant role in international economics and politics. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the impact on small and developing economies of their colonization by digital technologies controlled by U.S. tech giants, and their coping strategies.