The People Vs Tech

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What to expect

Random House presents the audiobook edition of The People Vs Tech by Jamie Bartlett, read by Sandro Monetti.

The internet was meant to set us free.

Tech has radically changed the way we live our lives. But have we unwittingly handed too much away to shadowy powers behind a wall of code, all manipulated by a handful of Silicon Valley utopians, ad men, and venture capitalists? And, in light of recent data breach scandals around companies like Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, what does that mean for democracy, our delicately balanced system of government that was created long before big data, total information and artificial intelligence? In this urgent polemic, Jamie Bartlett argues that through our unquestioning embrace of big tech, the building blocks of democracy are slowly being removed. The middle class is being eroded, sovereign authority and civil society is weakened, and we citizens are losing our critical faculties, maybe even our free will.

The People Vs Tech is an enthralling account of how our fragile political system is being threatened by the digital revolution. Bartlett explains that by upholding six key pillars of democracy, we can save it before it is too late. We need to become active citizens; uphold a shared democratic culture; protect free elections; promote equality; safeguard competitive and civic freedoms; and trust in a sovereign authority. This essential book shows that the stakes couldn’t be higher and that, unless we radically alter our course, democracy will join feudalism, supreme monarchies and communism as just another political experiment that quietly disappeared.

Critics Review

  • A superb book by one of the world’s leading experts on the digital revolution… Bartlett finishes by offering us “20 Ideas to Save Democracy”. These thoughtful pointers … provide both invaluable food for thought and a fitting end to an outstanding book

    Literary Review

  • There are thousands of books about the internet and its impact on society, but this is the only one you really need… I can’t think of a more important book right now

    Herald

  • This book could not have come at a better moment, when we are all in the grip of the endlessly unfolding story of Cambridge Analytica… when it comes to the workings of Big Tech, the blogger Jamie Bartlett clearly knows his stuff… He brings home, chillingly, the menacing passivity of algorithms… I enjoyed this book. It made me think… And The People Vs Tech makes clear that there is still time – just – for us to take back control

    Sunday Times

  • The People Vs Tech is a vital guide and a call addressed to those who are unwilling to play the part of the hapless shipowner in the coming war for our minds and democracy itself

    Spectator

  • A timely new book by Jamie Bartlett of Demos, The People Vs Tech, spells out why it’s vital that politicians seize this moment to reform our attitudes to technology

    New Statesman

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