A Path to Liberation from the Broligarchy
We don't have to wait for a perfect plan to start moving NOW.
The Untapped Leverage Point
We must migrate out of the Big Tech and Big Media matrix - our survival as a species may depend on it.
Variations of a digital exodus concept have been circulating for years. Some have been warning us about surveillance capitalism and the digital prisons being built around us for decades. I only started beating this drum back in March, after seeing the now-infamous image of the Broligarchy standing front and center on the inaugural dais.
The supposedly progressive Silicon Valley tech bros stood there, brazen, openly aligning with an authoritarian coup that has already begun to enact policies that amount to social murder. These four men control much of the global infrastructure for communication, commerce, surveillance, and social programming.
Mark Zuckerberg (Meta - Facebook, Instagram, Threads, WhatsApp, Messenger, Marketplace, Metaverse, VR)
Jeff Bezos (Amazon - Prime, Wholefoods, Washington Post, Audible, AWS)
Sindar Pichai (Google - Gmail, Search, Chrome, Google Drive/Docs, YouTube)
Elon Musk (X, xAI, Tesla, SpaceX)
Meanwhile, Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, was was off to the side, pretending to be different. And Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle current owner of TikTok, wasn’t present, but is deeply entangled in this same consolidating web of media and tech power - the infrastructure, networks and content being vertically and horizontally integrated into monstrosities of monopolies.
Also not pictured are the original founders of Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, and its former CEO, Eric Schmidt - all members of this class of technocratic men who have managed to delude themselves into thinking they should be leading the world despite not having brought meaningful innovation to humanity in decades. In actuality, they are steering the world off a cliff.
The Crimes of the Broligarchy
The list of crimes of these predatory tech monopolies is long. But here is a summary of some of the most egregious offenses committed by these predators.
They have undermined and violated our privacy, selling our data to anyone that will pay, including foreign governments.
They’ve suppressed the truth, amplifying disinformation and distracting from the defining issue of our time: climate change.
They’ve fueled division, enabled election tampering at home and been linked to genocides abroad.
They’ve entrenched the corporate capture of democracy to serve the few and abandon the rest.
They’ve systematically taken over US regulatory agencies meant to protect the consumer from them, enabling unchecked grooming of children on social media.
They’re now investing billions into an AI bubble that is not only likely to implode, but is draining energy and water through massive data centers required to power it, which pollute nearby communities and inflate utility costs.
Monopolies have never served the public good or society at large. But now, after aligning themselves with authoritarianism and become the infrastructure of surveillance and behavior control, they can never again be trusted.
The Digital Exodus Drum Beat
If you want to hear what I’m hearing, cue on Bob Marley’s Exodus. I’m half joking. (But seriously, put it on if you have it nearby.)
The Simplicity of the Solution
The day I saw that image, it became clear: a Big Tech and Social Media boycott could be the most powerful untapped leverage points we have to interrupt the world’s descent into f@sc1sm and techno-feudalism. And in the months that followed, it’s becoming more urgent than ever.
The solution is ridiculously simple. Almost laughable. The power is literally at our finger tips, in our hands:
Delete the apps. Deactivate the accounts. Cancel the subscriptions.
It’s safe, peaceful and legal, and it strikes at the empire’s air supply: our attention, which becomes data, which they trade for money.
When we delete their apps, we cut off the data pipeline that props up their monopolies and weaponizes our behaviors under a regime criminalizing dissent in real time.
Digital Boycotts Work
Just this past September, we witnessed the power of mass action when millions canceled their Disney+ subscriptions after Jimmy Kimmel Live! was pulled from the air. He was back in a matter of days.
In a world where the ruling class responds only to profit - not morality, logic, or care of life - that’s where our leverage lies.
Imagine tens of millions boycotting the biggest tech and media conglomerates. That’s not a protest, it’s a power shift.
More than a Protest: a 3-Pillar Strategy
This is about more than sending a symbolic message. It’s a tangible action that confront three converging crises, while being low-risk, low cost and high impact.
Unchecked Monopoly Power - Cutting the data stream to the worst monopoly offenders (Google, Meta, X, TikTok, Amazon, Apple) disrupts their business model and decentralizes power. (Reclaim our economic power)
Privacy and Security Violations - These companies have proven over and over that they cannot be trusted with our data. Deactivating or deleting accounts protects our privacy. (Reclaim digital sovereignty).
Mental Health/Behavioral control - Staying off manipulative platforms breaks the cycle of algorithmic control that feeds division, depression, and addiction. (Reclaim our agency)
Not about being Perfect
This isn’t about digital purity or quitting everything overnight. It’s a journey. An exodus. Any step away from the exploitative platforms is positive movement.
There are way to make the exodus an adventure. And once the younger generation discovers how much cooler it is to be on non-corporate platforms, they’ll be coming in droves. (You know how fast teenage trends move.)
Depending on your country and your occupation, you may need more secure or professional grade tools. If you have recommendations, please comment or message me.
Addressing the Push Back
Most people resonate with the idea of a digital exodus, but doubts can creep in fast. That’s expected. But usually, once you learn how data fuels monopoly profits - that even having an app on your phone lets them harvest and sell your info - and how migrating can actually be fun, it’s power becomes more clear.
We need to be strategic and agile. We may need to pivot. But giving up before trying dooms us to their dystopian vision.
Let’s look at some of the common concern.
“People argue that people are too addicted”
Exactly. That’s why we must act. These platforms were engineered for addiction. The good news is that withdrawal is easier than you think. I once lost my phone for two weeks, and I felt relieved.
“Companies are Too Powerful, It Won’t make a difference”
That’s what they want us to believe. But the Disney boycott proved otherwise. Coordinated exits make headlines, scare investors, and pressure advertisers. They break the illusion of invincibility.
Even if companies like Amazon rely more on B2B revenue, that’s no reason to do nothing. Every app we delete, every purchase we redirect, is power reclaimed from these predatory monopolies.
“People can’t handle the inconvenience”
Human inertia is real. And leaving the seamless integration of Google or Meta ecosystems and apps we’ve used for years is not going to be without friction. It takes time, at first. And that’s not an accident. That’s how they trap us. The seamless login systems, cloud integration, autofills are designed to keep us dependent.
But this is not the hurdle it may seem and is less painful than you may think. Many alternatives are getting better by the day.
“Won’t the new places just become the new Big Tech”
This is a real risk, but it’s not an excuse not to participate.
This isn’t about escaping all Big Tech overnight. It’s about walking away from the worst offenders. If a place a new platform gets corrupted, we move again. This is a journey. (Can you imagine someone saying we shouldn’t leave Egypt because they might catch up us to in Sinai, and then decide to stay?)
Further, some platforms—like Signal (non-profit), BlueSky (decentralized and open-source), and Fediverse apps like Mastodon, PeerTube, Pixelfed—are structurally resistant to surveillance capitalism.
And even if one does morph into Big Tech 2.0 we can morph too. Remember, it’s progress not perfection. Each step matters on our way out. The important thing is that we move.
“But what we really need is a general strike, mutual aid and/or parallel systems”
The Digital Exodus isn’t a silver bullet. It’s a complementary and critical tool.
Labor strikes are powerful, but U.S. unions have been gutted. New ones are rising, and mutual aid is growing, but these systems take time. In the meantime, digital exodus can happen now. It supports and amplifies all the rest.
A note on cynicism
The belief that nothing will work, that we can’t change anything, is one of the most powerful weapons of fascist systems. When they can get us to self-censor our own imagination, they’ve already won.
But the truth is: we have leverage.
Our time and attention on their apps - our participation in their toxic systems - are their currency. And when we withhold, that’s when they’ll notice. It often takes losing something to realize what one had.
Let’s remind them who really runs the economy.
Why the Digital Exodus Matters (Recap)
Big Tech is a choke point. Cutting of the data supply by deleting, deactivating or significantly reducing our use of their apps - en masse - shuts down the backbone of authoritarian surveillance, propaganda and behavioral control. No matter how you look at it, cutting of their data supply puts the power back in our hands.
And there’s almost no downside. Moving off their platforms:
Weakens monopolies accelerating authoritarian control
Frees our minds, emotions and nervous systems from toxic algorithms, so we can focus more clearly and move towards action
Protects our sovereignty, privacy and security.
Diversifies the tools we use to connect and organize
It’s peaceful, legal and can be done from the safety of your home.
A note to Influencers and Small Businesses
If your income depends on social media, this isn’t about jumping ship overnight. We need you to help lead the way. We need you to start moving. Begin setting up accounts on other systems, invite your followers to join you. Tell them why. They will respect you. They will follow. And they will thank you.
Media You Can Share
The Digital Exodus / Delete the Oligarchy is unbranded media, so please share freely. Bring your friends and family. And please comment or message me if you have feedback.
Attention is power. Data is power. Dollars are power.
By withdrawing these we take our power back.
I agree with ditching big tech social media and boycotting entities like CBS, Paramount, Whole Foods and Amazon and strikes are absolutely necessary. Making that happen in a nation where half live paycheck to paycheck is a tall order.
Those who hold wealth must do their part, too. I have pleaded with readers to move their money out of fossil fuel sponsoring banks a number of times.
https://www.fossilbanks.org/fossil-banks
https://bank.green/