This talk examines the evolving relationship between Big Tech, U.S. intelligence, and transatlantic policy networks in shaping digital infrastructure and online discourse. It explores how the Internet—while serving as a powerful tool for communication and information exchange—has simultaneously been utilized as an instrument of surveillance and narrative control within an emerging system of algorithmic governance.

It will trace the historical roots of these developments, their global implications, and the challenges they pose for democratic communication and digital sovereignty.

Dr. Sathi is an Assistant Professor of Gender and Political Economy at the International Institute of Social Science (ISS) in The Hague, Netherlands.  Dr. Sprague is a Research Associate at the Institute for Research on World-Systems, University of California, Riverside.