From Utopia to Distopia and Out

Technology is supposed to improve humans life. The emergence of the Web during the last decade of the twentieth century has opened new avenues that have been bringing much innovation, and disruption, at many levels of the society. Interconnected information has enabled many things to happen that were not imaginable before. The hope was that as humans were becoming more interconnected, the sources of tension would progressively disappear, and we would build a long lasting peaceful and fully interconnected world.

The tools that were produced, and the pervasive use of the Web, were greeted with enthusiasm and

The innovative landscape based on startups has been seized by a small number of companies as an opportunity to build new world empires and dominate the landscape.

Democratic values have faltered, leaving space for the rise of authoritarianism.

Is there a link between the evolution of technology and the rise of authoritarianism? If yes, was that avoidable? Did it happen by surprise or were there warning signs?

Today, are we bound to just accept things as they are, or are there alternatives to reorient societies in a different direction? Should we try to go back to where democratic societies were, or should we look to build new foundations of democracies that could benefit from the most recent technological advancements?

Technology is not good or evil in itself. It all depends on how it is used. Being in a group when we can share our life with friends is an enjoyable activity, but it becomes more ominous when the same technology is used by groups spread conspiracies, harassment, child porn and bullying, political propaganda and gaslighting.

Interconnecting information can be used to improve our knowledge and help us take better decisions. But it can also be used by authoritarian governments to acquire trouves of information, including private information, on citizens that can be used to flag them if they do not comply with what an authoritarian regime expects from its followers.

The changes brought by the technological advances during the last thirty years have altered not just the way we shop, we work, we learn, we communicate with each other, we consume media, we exchange money, but it has also changed fundamental notions as freedom, creativity, education, progress, mental and physical health, democracy, etc.

It is important to be able as a society to adjust to the new conditions in which we live. We can not affoard the luxury of denying or minimizing the changes that have occurred and continue to occur. Ignoring them would leave the door even wide open for authoritarian regimes and tech barons to expand even further their already outstanding power.