Techtonic shifts in public debate: A new battlefront for freedom of expression

The progressive platformisation of society has left an oligarchical group of multinational tech companies in a dominant market position with unprecedented influence over public debate online. This Big Tech broligarchy is presided over by CEOs who epitomize their companies and exercise largely unrestrained control over the policies of their companies’ platforms and services. When the interests of the Big Tech broligarchy dovetail with those of autocratic leaders, a concatenation of technological, political and communicative power arises. This technautocratic power exploits the paradigmatic – or techtonic – changes in public debate caused by platformisation, facilitating the wide and forceful dissemination of a version of freedom of expression that is far removed from the shared and’authoritative meaning of the right to freedom of expression, as guaranteed under international and European human rights law. This has opened new battlefronts for the legitimacy and authority of the right to freedom of expression.