Big Tech Plat­forms: Tech­no­logy, Power & Polit­ics

Course content

Technology can be a tool and a weapon. This course examines the great promises and the critical implications of big tech platforms when transforming and reshaping the ways people live, work, learn, and play.

The classes investigate how companies such as:

• Amazon, Tencent, and MercadoLibre disrupt traditional businesses and alter commerce;

• Facebook, Baidu, Netflix, and X influence the media and culture landscape; and

• Uber, Grab, and Zomato accelerate the gig economy, challenging established work and earning practices.

Meanwhile, policymakers in capitals like Brussels, Beijing, and Washington D.C. face significant challenges in developing regulations that keep pace with rapid technological innovations of multisided market platforms.

Through both practical and intellectual engagement, this course will deepen your understanding of how tech platforms impact business, daily life, and work. It encourages critical inquiry by posing fundamental questions about why and how these changes occur, without expecting definitive answers.