MAGA against Big Tech

Source: Corriere della Sera – “Maga against Big Tech: AI is the latest fracture”, 26 November 2025

The fracture inside the Maga universe: technology becomes a battleground

The article describes a significant shift within the Maga movement: a growing mistrust toward the major tech billionaires of Silicon Valley, particularly those now leading the development of artificial intelligence. Originally, trumpism welcomed disruptive tech entrepreneurs as symbols of anti-establishment freedom. Today, however, the movement views Big Tech as a concentration of power capable of shaping communication, politics and social order in ways that override both local economies and individual autonomy. AI has become the new point of rupture — a catalyst for internal conflict between the rhetoric of innovation and the realities of technological dominance.

AI as a destabilising force in American political discourse

AI accelerates underlying tensions. Part of the populist right perceives artificial intelligence as a driver of economic centralisation, capable of eliminating jobs, marginalising workers and creating new forms of dependence on global platforms.Figures such as Elon Musk — simultaneously admired and feared — fuel the debate by suggesting that AI could render human labour “irrelevant”. Such narratives amplify worries about a systemic displacement of human value, deepening the divide between technological optimism and social anxiety.

For the Maga base, the issue is no longer innovation but survival: how to preserve sovereignty and agency in a digital world dominated by a handful of private actors.

New geopolitical fault lines: technological sovereignty and data control

The article highlights an emerging conflict between Big Tech and various U.S. states, especially in conservative regions seeking greater autonomy from federal digital policies.Platforms that manage vast communication infrastructures — including services built on AI — now act as de facto governance layers, influencing social dynamics beyond traditional state authority. This sparks a tension between territorial sovereignty and digital sovereignty, with tech companies positioned as powerful intermediaries. The Maga movement exploits this tension to strengthen its cultural and political agenda, framing Big Tech as a competitor to democratic control itself.

The Musk paradox and the dilemma of technological conservatism

Elon Musk embodies the contradiction at the heart of the new right-wing technological discourse. He represents both the dream of radical innovation and the threat of concentrated power. His influence over data centres, AI infrastructures and global services makes any of his decisions politically consequential. The article suggests that the right wants disintermediation — bypassing federal institutions — but fears the new dependency that emerges when private digital infrastructures replace public oversight.

Technology as a cultural divide, not a unifying force

What emerges is a cultural rather than merely political fragmentation.American society is split between those who see AI as an opportunity and those who experience it as an existential threat to dignity, work and identity.Technology, far from bridging divides, becomes a generator of new ideological fault lines.And when political polarisation meets platforms governed by opaque AI systems, the conflict becomes cyclical: platforms amplify the divide, and the divide reinforces platform power.

What this means for Algopolio: making digital power intelligible and accountable

The dynamics described in the article resonate strongly with Algopolio’s mission: ensuring that digital power remains subject to democratic oversight.Algopolio works to:

decode technological power structures and make them understandable,protect citizens and professionals from algorithmic discrimination and opaque systems,support individuals facing abuses or asymmetries created by platforms,promote a digital environment where rights, transparency and human autonomy come before corporate dominance.

Anyone who feels overwhelmed or disadvantaged by the influence of platforms — whether through algorithms, AI models or lack of transparency — can rely on Algopolio for guidance, analysis and concrete protection. Because technological evolution cannot be governed by a few: it must be accountable to society as a whole.