Digital Dominance ― The Power of Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple

Across the globe, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft have accumulated power in ways that existing regulatory and intellectual frameworks struggle to comprehend. A consensus is emerging that the power of these new digital monopolies is unprecedented, and that it has important implications for journalism, politics, and society.

It is increasingly clear that democratic societies require new legal and conceptual tools if they are to adequately understand, and if necessary check the economic might of these companies. Equally, that we need to better comprehend the ability of such firms to control personal data and to shape the flow of news, information, and public opinion.

In this volume, Martin Moore and Damian Tambini draw together the world's leading researchers to examine the digital dominance of technologies platforms and look at the evidence behind the rising tide of criticism of the tech giants. In fifteen chapters, the authors examine the economic, political, and social impacts of Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft, in order to understand the different facets of their power and how it is manifested. Digital Dominance is the first interdisciplinary volume on this topic, contributing to a conversation which is critical to maintaining the health of democracies across the world.

Martin Moore is Director of the Centre for the Study of Media, Communication and Power at King's College London, and a Senior Research Fellow at King's. His research focuses on political communication during election and referendum campaigns, and on the civic power of technology platforms. He is the author of The Origins of Modern Spin (Palgrave MacMillan, 2006) and Tech Giants and Civic Power (2016), and publishes frequently on the media and politics.

Damian Tambini is Associate Professor at the London School of Economics. He has served as an advisor and expert in numerous policymaking roles for the European Commission, the Council of Europe, the UK Government, and the UK media regulator, Ofcom. He has published numerous articles and books on the topic of communication, policy, and politics, including Codifying Cyberspace (Routledge, 2008).