VShe recent days, the world of football has witnessed the attempt of a group of elite clubs determined to take control of the sport. Their declared will was to arrogate to themselves the power, to multiply their incomes by erecting barriers to protect their members against open competition and democratic participation. Faced with the disapproval of other teams, politicians and, above all, supporters, the European Super League collapsed.
What this project shows is not just about football. It is about capitalism and democracy. The question posed is whether we stand up against attempts to concentrate wealth and power. This question is of crucial importance, because while the outcry over this attempted football coup was immediate and beneficial, we have already seen, in another sector, how a private interest group , powerful and fortunate, can rig the system to subject it to its good will, without opposition.
Rig the system
In less than two decades, a few large companies in Silicon Valley have gradually taken control of the systems we use to share information, transmit data and interact with our loved ones. They have done so with alarming success, accessing colossal amounts of information and imposing their rules on the market. Although users, organizations or public officials have attempted in isolation to curb the anti-competitive and anti-democratic excesses of the tech industry, companies like Google and Facebook continue to exert an almost unhindered influence on the market. market.
This is not the slightest threat. In an age when our lives are growing more and more online, businesses and technological infrastructure are at the center of everything we do, their activities fuel our economy. Their functions in social networks define the terms of our public space.
The technical protocols, which govern the operation of these entities, end up benefiting monopoly private companies rather than the users themselves. They exclude economic competition and leverage our data to maintain their economic grip. They poison our participation in the civic conversation by providing users with a constant stream of conspiracy theories, radicalism, and violent ideology to create a buzz for commercial profit.
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