Big Tech’s lobbying activities with Joris Kanowski

Lobbying is part of the democratic process – but how much power do interest groups really have, and how transparent is their influence? In this episode of the re:publicast Special, Markus Beckedahl talks to Joris Kanowski about the strategies of the Big Tech lobby in Berlin and Brussels.

Why are government departments increasingly relying on expertise from interest groups rather than developing their own ideas? Why does political scientist Rudolph Speth describe lobbying as a kind of “fifth estate”, and how does the sheer economic scale of tech corporations translate into political influence? This episode of re:publicast also explores the close ties between Big Tech interests and the US government, and the question of what an alert digital civil society can do to promote greater transparency.

The podcast episodes of the special ‘The Digital Civil Society’ are supported by Stiftung Mercator.