Who Really Runs the Internet?

The Rise of PoliTechs and the New Rules of Power

Author

Shira Lazar
September 29, 2025

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about who actually sets the tone of our public conversations, especially as Washington circles TikTok and the rules of the internet keep shifting under our feet. Forbes recently called it “the web of billionaires taking control of TikTok US”, while Sinead Bovell described this moment as “the era of TechnoPower.”

Over coffee the other day, I unpacked all of this with my good friend and advisor, Doug Scott. Our conversation kept circling back to one theme: the rise of PoliTechs - technology power players shaping both the platforms we use and the policies that govern them.

Today’s newsletter is a bit different.

I’ve invited Doug to share a guest essay based on our conversation. He breaks down what’s happening, why it matters, and what to do next. Think of it as a quick guide to how small platform tweaks, media buys, “civic tech” money, and government deals often connect, and how they add up to a new kind of influence we can’t afford to ignore. 

The Rise of PoliTechs by Douglas Scott

In the 20th century, political influence largely flowed through parties, legacy media, and industrial magnates who underwrote lobbying operations. In the 21st, a new species of power broker has emerged - the PoliTech, technology billionaires who fuse private platforms, data advantages, and media ownership to shape the information environment in ways that can tilt public opinion, steer government agendas, and protect or expand their economic interests.

This isn’t a single conspiracy or a tiny club - it’s a playbook that increasingly defines the intersection of technology, capital, communications, and state power. Understanding how it works, and how to respond, has become a democratic imperative.

What is a PoliTech?

A PoliTech is an ultra-wealthy technology founder, investor, or platform owner who exerts outsized influence over the public sphere by:

  • Owning or controlling media distribution channels (social networks, messaging apps, cloud infrastructure, app stores).

  • Acquiring or bankrolling media properties (news outlets, podcasts, streaming networks, creator collectives).

  • Leveraging data and algorithmic reach to amplify preferred narratives while throttling, sidelining, or crowding out others.

  • Integrating political objectives with commercial ones, translating narrative power into regulatory relief, favorable contracts, or strategic market advantages.

Not every rich technologist is a PoliTech. The defining feature is not wealth alone but concentrated control over attention and infrastructure tied to political outcomes.

The PoliTech Playbook

  1. Platform Leverage
    Owning the rails beats owning a single train. Platforms sit atop behavioral data, recommendation engines, and monetization switches. Subtle tweaks, adjusting default ranking signals, throttling link distribution, and privileging “trusted” sources defined by the owner, can swing what millions see. The effect need not be explicit censorship; a 1-2% nudge applied at scale changes what trends, who frames issues first, and which ideas feel “normal.”

  2. Media Acquisition & Patronage
    Buying or bankrolling newsrooms, newsletters, or creator networks extends narrative reach. The value isn’t only direct editorial control; it’s agenda access, setting topics, emphasizing angles, and choosing who gets a megaphone at key moments. Even when proprietors promise editorial independence, ownership changes incentive structures, resource allocations, and risk tolerance.

  3. Influence Through Intermediaries
    PoliTechs often operate via foundation grants, think-tank fellowships, research labs, advocacy groups, and “civic tech.” These intermediaries can seed frameworks (e.g., “innovation vs. red tape”), supply experts to hearings, draft model legislation, or run ad-like “public education” campaigns. This creates a halo of civic purpose while advancing aligned regulatory outcomes.

  4. Data-Driven Narrative Engineering
    Unlike traditional media moguls, PoliTechs command granular audience data and rapid experimentation loops. A/B-tested headlines, micro-targeted messaging, and creator-led amplification allow them to discover and scale resonant frames quickly, sometimes blurring into misinformation or disinformation when incentives reward virality over veracity.

  5. Regulatory & Procurement Loops
    Narratives shape Policy; Policy shapes Markets. A successful storyline - “National competitiveness requires frictionless deployment,” “Content moderation is censorship,” “AI safety means limiting open competitors,” can translate into lighter oversight, friendlier procurement, tax advantages, or barriers to rivals, closing the loop between discourse and dollars.

PoliTech Power Archetypes

The Platform Sovereign
Controls a dominant network or infrastructure layer. Influence flows through ranking, throttling, verification policies, and API terms.

The Media Constellation Builder
Owns or funds a portfolio of outlets, from investigative shops to creator networks, and coordinates cross-promotion and message discipline.

The Philanthro-Policy Architect
Uses grants, research centers, and civic tech to shape the expert consensus and supply talking points to legislators and regulators.

The Deal-Flow Diplomat
Turns narrative capital into procurement wins, regulatory forbearance, or protective legislation, and back again into narrative reinforcement.

Current PoliTechs

  • Donald Trump (Truth Media)

  • Elon Musk (X, Starlink, xAI)

  • Larry & David Ellison (Paramount Skydance, TikTok)

  • Rupert & Lachlan Murdoch (Fox News, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, HarperCollins)

  • Jeff Bezos (The Washington Post, Amazon, MGM)

  • Pierre Omidyar (First Look Media)

  • Marc Benioff (Time Magazine)

  • Mark Zuckerberg (META)

  • Marc Andressen (TikTok)

  • Steve Ballmer (USAFacts)

  • Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong (Los Angeles Times)

  • Peter Thiel (Palantir)

The Bottom Line

He who owns the Infrastructure of Speech can Shape the Architecture of Belief.

The rise of PoliTechs is a by-product of our attention economy. When ownership of distribution, content, data, and policy advocacy is consolidated into a handful of hands, the risk isn’t just louder speech, its structural dominance over the conditions of public understanding.

We can meet that challenge with practical, pro-innovation safeguards - transparency of ownership and algorithms, modernized pluralism rules, competition and data rights, verified disclosures for political messaging, and investment in public-interest media and literacy. If we can achieve this, the energy of the tech sector will continue to fuel growth and creativity, without letting narrative power quietly harden into unaccountable rule.

Other headlines to check out:

AI

Creator Economy

Web3 

🎧 New Episode of The AI Download: Build Your Own GPT: The Playbook to Scale Creativity—Without Losing Your Voice

This week on The AI Download, Jim Marsh and I broke down the SAIL Framework—the simple system I used to build a custom GPT for What’s Trending.

The goal: ship more without losing my voice. We walk through how to set guardrails, use it day-to-day (research → draft → polish → publish), and the exact moments it saves you time.

We also share the fill-in-the-blanks worksheet so you can build your own in under an hour. Get our free worksheet at Shiralazar.com/sail 

🎙️ Listen now to get caught up on the AI headlines you need to know plus insights on future of life, creativity and culture. 

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