The article discusses a significant shift in the relationship between American tech companies and democracy, emphasizing how their influence has escalated from a nuisance to a critical factor in government policy. This shift has created widespread concern in Europe, as political leaders scramble to align with the new reality in Washington. In the UK, the government is under pressure to revise copyright laws to favor American tech interests, which raises serious questions about the implications for creativity and democratic values.
There are decades when nothing happens (as Lenin is wrongly supposed to have said) and weeks when decades happen. We've just lived through a few weeks like that.
We've known for decades that some American tech companies were problematic for democracy because they were fragmenting the public sphere and fostering polarisation.
The panic that this has induced in Europe is a sight to behold. Everywhere you look, political leaders are frantically trying to find ways of aligning with the new regime in Washington.
Pressure to amend the UK's copyright laws to make it easier for predominantly American tech companies to train their AI models on other people's creative work without permission, acknowledgment or payment.
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