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TWN
Info Service on UN Sustainable Development (Aug25/03) Are
We Ready for the Storm? Last Tuesday, while a thunderstorm raged over Kuala Lumpur, another kind of storm was brewing inside the historic Majestic Hotel. In a small room filled with thinkers, activists, and policymakers, Yanis Varoufakis - economist, author, and former Greek finance minister - warned of a tempest far more dangerous than thunder or rain. He called it Techno-feudalism. Varoufakis argues that capitalism as we know it is being replaced. The new system is not socialist, not democratic, and not even recognizably capitalist. It is something older, darker, and more hierarchical: a return to feudalism. Only this time, the castles are the cloud servers of Big Tech, the lords are corporate oligarchs, and the new serfs are us - the users, the gig workers, the data providers - trapped in a digital landscape we do not own, yet cannot escape. In this emerging order, digital platforms like Amazon, Google, Meta, Apple, and Microsoft have become the new overlords. They own the digital “soil” - our data, our online spaces, our AI systems. Just five of these companies now hold a combined market capitalization of over US$12.5 trillion - exceeding the GDP of Japan, Germany, and the UK combined. Their CEOs command more power than many nation-states. And just like the lords of old, their wealth and dominance grow not primarily through innovation or productive work, but through rent - the extraction of value simply by owning and controlling the infrastructure of the digital economy. The Machinery of Surveillance If feudal lords of the past kept power by controlling land and armies, today’s lords rely on surveillance. Every click, every GPS coordinate, every voice command is logged, analysed, and monetised. Varoufakis warns that this is no mere commercial exercise. The surveillance architecture, perfected by the tech giants, is increasingly intertwined with state power. In the United States, partnerships between Big Tech and political leaders - including those aligned with Donald Trump - are expanding the capacity for real-time monitoring of individuals and organisations. What begins as predictive analytics for advertising can quickly become predictive policing for dissent suppression. This merging of corporate and political surveillance is dangerous. It hands private companies tools to police behaviour, filter information, and nudge public opinion - while allowing political leaders to bypass constitutional safeguards. The medieval watchtower has been replaced by the algorithmic feed. States as Vassals In the feudal analogy, nation-states are becoming vassals. Governments rely on corporate cloud infrastructure for storing sensitive data. They purchase surveillance technology from private firms. They depend on social media platforms to communicate with citizens - and, increasingly, to shape public sentiment. When your treasury runs on Amazon Web Services, your police use Palantir’s predictive algorithms, and your public discourse takes place on X (formerly Twitter), how much sovereignty do you truly retain? Even militaries are not immune. Drone guidance systems, satellite imagery, and AI-driven intelligence analysis are often contracted to private companies. This dependency means that, in moments of conflict or political crisis, the balance of power may tip away from elected governments and towards unelected tech executives. The Attention Economy as a Weapon The attention economy, pioneered and perfected by digital platforms, adds another layer of control. These platforms are engineered to capture and hold our gaze - not by serving our needs, but by serving their profit model. Every notification, autoplay video, and algorithmic recommendation is designed to keep us scrolling, clicking, and sharing. With this power to monopolise attention comes the ability to manufacture desire. Consumer wants are no longer organic; they are cultivated in real-time through targeted content. What is more insidious is that this machinery does not stop at shaping consumption - it can also shape identity. Political scientist Benedict Anderson famously described nations as “imagined communities” - vast social constructs held together not by face-to-face interaction, but by shared narratives, symbols, and media. In Anderson’s day, print newspapers and broadcast television were the primary tools for building these narratives. Today, digital platforms have seized that role. The algorithms that decide what we see - whether news stories, memes, or videos - are not neutral. They are optimised to maximise engagement, often by amplifying outrage or reinforcing in-group bias. This means platforms can subtly re-draw the boundaries of our imagined communities: shifting our loyalties, reframing our histories, and redefining who we see as “us” and who as “them.” When a corporation can command more daily attention from a citizen than their own government, it has the power to challenge the very sovereignty of the nation-state. In extreme cases, identity itself becomes a product shaped and sold by corporate interests. In very subtle and insidious ways these corporations wield huge powers to control our political decision making and democratic process and therefore undermine our capacity for self-determination. Regaining Control: Varoufakis’s Prescriptions Varoufakis is clear: the storm is coming, but there are ways to resist. First, tax rent, not income. Economic rents - unearned profits from monopolies, intellectual property, and platform ownership - should be taxed to reduce inequality and return value to the public. It is unjust that ordinary workers are taxed on every payslip, while tech giants extract billions from data and network effects without proportional contribution to the societies they profit from. Second, treat digital platforms as public utilities. Just as electricity grids and water systems are regulated to ensure fair access, the infrastructure of the digital world should serve the public interest. Third, weaken monopolistic network effects through enforced interoperability. Imagine being able to leave Facebook but take all your friends, photos, and messages with you - or switching from YouTube to another platform without losing your subscribers. This would give users real choice and prevent companies from locking us into their digital fiefdoms. Fourth, embrace central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) - but with a democratic twist. Properly designed CBDCs, with strong privacy protections and transparent governance, could reduce dependence on private payment systems and curb the monopolistic and opaque financial control currently wielded by both banks and tech companies. Finally, central banks must step up. They cannot remain passive in the face of this corporate concentration of power. Monetary policy should not merely stabilise inflation; it should actively work to prevent the erosion of democratic and economic sovereignty by private monopolies. A Hopeful Note for Small Nations While the scale of the challenge may seem overwhelming, Varoufakis insists that even small nations can push back. Malaysia, for example, can invest in digital sovereignty by building open-source public platforms, supporting local tech ecosystems, and joining coalitions that demand fair global digital governance. By aligning with other nations facing the same threats, Malaysia can help craft an international framework that limits surveillance abuse, promotes data rights, and ensures equitable taxation of global digital rents. Yes, the storm is coming. But storms can also cleanse. They can wake us from complacency, strip away illusions, and spark new beginnings. As citizens, workers, and communities, we still have agency. We can demand that our governments act - not as vassals, but as guardians of the public good. Techno-feudalism is not destiny. It is a choice. And we still have time to choose differently. END. -------------------------------------- Dr. Shahridan Faiez is a Trustee of Citizens International (www.citizens-international.org), an action-based human rights non-governmental organisation based in George Town, Penang. Formerly with the World Bank, he has worked across more than 20 countries partnering with farmers, tribal leaders, and policymakers to transform public investments into concrete outcomes.
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