Written by: Samuel Guerra
Among the countless images and clips that circulated from Donald Trump’s inauguration last month, one captured the paradox of modern power. In the second row sat the CEOs of the world’s most influential tech companies and the three wealthiest billionaires in the world. Their names were Mark Zuckerberg (Meta/Facebook), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Sundar Pichai (Google/Alphabet) and Elon Musk (Tesla/SpaceX), who is now the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency. Absent from the frame, but present at the event were Apple’s Tim Cook, OpenAI’s Sam Altman (creator of ChatGPT), and TikTok’s Shou Zi Chew.
Together, their combined net worths eclipse $1 trillion. These are the faces of a techno-oligarchy now shaping what free speech means in the United States and beyond. The Cambridge Dictionary defines “oligarchy” as, “government by a small group of very powerful people.”
The CEOs’ images drew scrutiny for their glaring irony. Just two years earlier, many of these same platforms had banned Trump for violating content policies, and their executives had publicly criticized his conduct and policies during his first presidency. Yet, here they sat in privileged seats, exchanging handshakes and expressing congratulations. Once, they simulated concern about public backlash for aligning with controversial political figures; now, they’ve discarded even the illusion of principle, auctioning their influence to the highest bidder.
A Bloomberg News headline from Nov. 6, 2024—the day after Trump’s election—summed it up: “Trump Win Sparks Record $64 Billion Gain for World’s 10 Richest People.” Their stocks soared on promises of tax cuts and government contracts, with OpenAI already securing immensely lucrative deals just a few days after the inauguration. This upward redistribution of wealth has only accelerated since.
But the stakes extend far beyond wealth accumulation. The real danger lies in how this techno-oligarchy manipulates the boundaries of free speech. Consider TikTok’s abrupt shutdown of U.S. operations just one day before Trump’s inauguration, complying with an order from the Biden administration. Though the app resumed hours later—after Trump granted a 75-day ban extension—its return came with strings attached: TikTok now censors topics and keywords that were previously approved by its guidelines, mirroring the moderation practices of Meta’s platforms. Meanwhile, Elon Musk, who already owns X (formerly Twitter), is among the bidders seeking to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations. If he succeeds, Musk and Zuckerberg would basically control a duopoly over America’s most popular social media apps.
Free speech today is increasingly exercised—and suppressed—on platforms owned by billionaires who enforce rules aligning with their ideologies. When two men dictate what can be said online, the very idea of open discourse crumbles. This is why alternatives matter. Users must actively seek out platforms beyond Big Tech’s reach; among them there are Bluesky as a decentralized rival to X/Twitter; DeepSeek or Claude for AI tools to replace ChatGPT; Arc browser instead of Chrome or Safari; the privacy-focused Signal over iMessage or WhatsApp, etc. While abandoning familiar platforms is difficult, our digital consumption choices carry profound consequences—especially as the government itself leans into techno-oligarchy.