This statement did not reflect a point-by-point analysis. Neither could it be expected to initiate a concerted action to promote vaccination. It was made with an entirely different objective in mind. It was a political move to control the news cycle. Biden, a highly skilled politician, has been riding for a while on a new wave of populism that will become the central theme in the next decade’s election campaigns across the Western world: disparaging big tech corporations.
Sizeable global tech corporations have never been particularly popular, unlike their products, which can be found in every home. Nevertheless, politicians have liked the executives of the big companies. Some are exciting and visionary people, and they can be fun to talk to. They have fat wallets, and they can contribute to campaigns. Indeed, they cannot be ignored. During the Obama era, hosting Facebook at the White House was a status symbol of progress and American technology. Next, former president Donald Trump, with his great populist instincts, began to attack the big techs. In this respect, he has been followed by Biden.
Populist politicians specialize in simplifying complex issues and making them superfluously understandable to a public that is not interested in economic and legal nuances. As a result, the public gets to know only a particular confrontation between “the people” and people who benefit from “the people.”
A good populist politician pushes a person to feel that he or she is being deceived, beaten and lied to, and that only the politician can stand up against this power. In Israel, we see the beginning of this movement. More and more right-wing politicians are criticizing Facebook. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has not said a word yet. Still, it is not clear that traveling to Silicon Valley to be photographed with the Facebook CEO would enhance his image at home.
The public understands that something in the conduct of the big tech companies and in the way they exercise their power is wrong. There have always been anti-globalist waves, and we are facing another new wave against big-tech companies. Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Twitter, their considerations, policies, profits and ways of making money will be essential topics in the coming years. If until now the big tech companies could buy politicians with money, it is not sure that they will be able to do so in the future. A politician who is subservient to their money will be denounced. It will no longer pay off for him in the long run.
Like anything that starts in the US, we shall soon see this wave here in Israel and in Europe. The story of world politics since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the elites against the people, will take a different form. This is actually good news. People will decide who has the power – big tech companies or the people’s representatives.
The author is the founder of perception.media, a strategic consultant and creative director to leaders including former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic.