Carole Cadwalladr returns to TED: This is what a digital coup looks like
20/04/2025 | The Guardian
Carole Cadwalladr returned to the TED stage in Vancouver, six years after her first TED talk exposing Cambridge Analytica, to address the threat posed to democracy by large technology companies. Having endured a defamation lawsuit after her first talk, Cadwalladr's latest talk focused on lessons learned and the concept of broligarchy - the alignment of Silicon Valley and autocracy, which she argues represents a new form of power.
During the talk, Cadwalladr emphasised that politics is technology now, and technology is politics. Speaking at a time when the power of tech giants is increasingly evident, Cadwalladr believes her past warnings concerning technology's threat to democracy were not heeded.
Speaking directly to Silicon Valley, addressing the developers of AI, a technology she views as a dangerous and rapidly advancing force, Cadwalladr highlighted the alignment of these figures with Donald Trump and what she sees as a rogue state.
Editors note: The article and TED talk are both compelling and well worth a read/watch.
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