The recent antitrust rulings against Google and Meta in the United States mark what we hope is a long-overdue reckoning. A federal judge’s decision calling out Google for holding illegal monopolies in advertising technology — and the intensifying scrutiny of Meta’s practices in the FTC antitrust trial — reflect a growing, if belated, realisation that these tech giants have outgrown regulation and now operate with alarming impunity.

The damage inflicted by these monopolies isn’t just economic — it’s societal, political, and deeply structural. For over a decade, a handful of companies have not only cornered markets but also controlled the flow of information, curated digital realities, and profited from the chaos that misinformation brings. They’ve leveraged this unchecked power to silence dissent, amplify extremist ideologies, and quietly tip the scales in favour of authoritarianism — all while masquerading as champions of free speech and innovation. This isn’t just about billion-dollar profits or market share. It’s about how public discourse is manipulated, how elections are influenced, and how communities are polarised. When such power lies in the hands of a few unelected individuals, the very foundation of democracy starts to rot from within.

We perceive this moment as a potential turning point. But let’s not mistake these legal proceedings as silver bullets. A systematic dismantling of the digital oligarchy is necessary — through stronger regulations, transparent algorithms, data ownership reforms, and the decentralisation of power. Otherwise, we risk surrendering our societies to platforms that thrive on outrage, suppress nuance, and serve only their own interests.

If the current system is allowed to flourish, we are not heading towards a tech-enabled utopia — we are walking into a digitised dystopia dressed in clean interfaces and algorithmic seduction. And history may not be so forgiving.