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Nearly everything we use online is owned by big tech. There’s a better way forward

The Conversation · · 921 words · By Ashwin Nagappa; Daniel Angus
Australian Technological Independence Digital sovereignty Anti-Monopoly/Big Tech Critique

The article discusses the concept of digital sovereignty, highlighting the European Union's efforts to reduce reliance on American and Chinese tech giants. It suggests that Australia could adopt similar strategies by promoting local innovation and incorporating Indigenous data sovereignty frameworks.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/nearly-everything-we-use-online-is-owned-by-big-tech…

analyticsAnalysis

30%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 90%
Minor concerns. Some persuasive language detected, but largely factual.

psychologyDetected Techniques

warning
Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
warning
Appeal to Fear 60% confidence
Building support by instilling anxiety or panic in the audience.
warning
Glittering Generalities 70% confidence
Using vague, emotionally appealing phrases ('freedom', 'justice') without specifics.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

14 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

schedule Pending 4
verified Verified By Reference 3
check_circle Corroborated 3
info Single Source 2
help Insufficient Evidence 2
verified
“Most of us must choose between Apple, Windows, or Android. All of these are owned by American tech giants.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia confirms Apple is an American company and that Android is developed by Google (an American company). Windows is developed by Microsoft (American).
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Android XR is an extended reality (XR) operating system developed by Google and Samsung Electronics. It is based on Android. It was announced in December 12, 2024 and launched in October 2025. The ope…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_XR
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The usage share of an operating system is the percentage of computers running that operating system (OS). These statistics are estimates as wide scale OS usage data is difficult to obtain and measure.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_syste…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Android 15 is the fifteenth major release and the 22nd version of Android, the mobile operating system developed by the Open Handset Alliance and led by Google. The first developer preview was release…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_15
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“Much of private and government IT infrastructure... uses cloud services, such as Amazon Web Services, Cloudflare or Microsoft Azure. They might have locations worldwide, but these are also US companies.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia explicitly identifies Cloudflare as an American technology company. Amazon and Microsoft are well-documented US-based companies.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Cloudflare, Inc., is an American technology company headquartered in San Francisco, California, that provides a range of internet services, including content delivery network (CDN) services, cloud cyb…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloudflare
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This article lists standard and notable non-standard HTTP response status codes. Standardized codes are defined by IETF as documented in Request for Comments (RFC) publications and maintained by the I…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HTTP_status_codes
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Terraform is an infrastructure-as-code software tool created by HashiCorp. Users define and provide data center infrastructure using a declarative configuration language known as HashiCorp Configurati…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraform_(software)
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
“Mobile phones, laptops, smartwatches and more are mostly made by American or Chinese companies.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim is repeated in a web search result that appears to be the source text itself. While general market trends support the dominance of US and Chinese firms, the provided evidence does not contain a statistical breakdown to verify 'mostly' across all three categories.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — American Chinese may refer to: Chinese American, US citizens/residents of Chinese origin or descent American-born Chinese, a subset of the above category American Chinese cuisine, Chinese cuisine dev…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Chinese
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — American Chinese cuisine, also known as Sino-American cuisine and often referred to in American English as simply Chinese food, is a style of Chinese cuisine developed by Chinese Americans. The dishes…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Chinese_cuisine
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. They have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, as well as other regions of the Chinese diaspora, especiall…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Americans
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“tech companies embed artificial intelligence (AI) assistants directly into everyday devices, such as Google’s Gemini or Microsoft’s Copilot.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm Google has integrated Gemini into Chrome/Chromebooks and Microsoft has integrated Copilot into Windows 11 and Microsoft 365.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Gemini (also known as Google Gemini and formerly known as Bard) is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot and virtual assistant developed by Google. It is powered by the family of large language…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Gemini
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Microsoft Copilot is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Microsoft AI, a division of Microsoft. Based on OpenAI's GPT-4 and GPT-5 series of large language models, it was launched…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Copilot
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Gemini is a family of multimodal large language models (LLMs) developed by Google DeepMind, and the successor to LaMDA and PaLM 2. Comprising Gemini Pro, Gemini Deep Think, Gemini Flash, and Gemini Fl…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_(language_model)
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“When a single cyber security update brought down Windows computers the world over in 2024”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent news sources confirm that a faulty software update from the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike caused a global outage of Windows computers in 2024.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Windows is a proprietary graphical operating system developed and marketed by Microsoft. Windows is grouped into families that cater to particular sectors of the computing industry – Windows for perso…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009. It is the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct successor to Wind…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Several prominent EU institutions have already ditched the Microsoft Office suite for official communication. Instead, they use European software such as Office EU or free open-source alternatives.”
CORROBORATED
Web search results indicate Denmark is replacing Microsoft Office with open-source alternatives and mention 'Office EU' as an open-source productivity platform for EU teams.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Free and open-source software (FOSS) is software available under a license that gives users the right to use, share, modify, and distribute the software – modified or not – to everyone and provides th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open-source_software
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web search NEUTRAL — Welcome to Office EU, the open-source productivity platform for all who value a free, transparent and sovereign working environment.
https://office.eu/office-eu-vs-microsoft-365
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Underlying this pan-European pivot is growing concern over the control that US-based "hyperscaler" companies—such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google—wield over digital infrastructure, software ecosystems…
https://www.computing.co.uk/news/2025/open-source/denmark-to…
verified
“The EU is also making progress on Gaia-X, a local alternative to global cloud providers.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia confirms Gaia-X is a European project for a federated secure standard for data infrastructure, intended as a sovereign alternative to global providers.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Gaia-X is a European project that has developed a federated secure standard for data infrastructure whereby data are shared, with users retaining control over their data access and usage.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia-X
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Instead, they use European software such as Office EU or free open-source alternatives. The EU is also making progress on Gaia-X, a local alternative to global cloud providers. But these efforts come …
https://theconversation.com/nearly-everything-we-use-online-…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — “The cloud service providers are always going to deliver products faster than an institutional initiative like Gaia-X,” he says. “I think what’s on the market now is sufficient to meet the digital sov…
https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/analysis/gaia-x-has-eu…
info
“Outside of the EU, countries including India, Brazil, Nigeria and South Africa are also pursuing digital sovereignty plans.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results mention digital sovereignty in the EU and general digital entry systems in South Africa, but do not provide specific evidence of comprehensive 'digital sovereignty plans' for India, Brazil, Nigeria, and South Africa collectively.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Implement NIST's risk management framework, from defining risks to selecting, implementing and monitoring information security controls.Request to Republish Content. EU Unveils AI Tech Sovereignty Pla…
https://www.bankinfosecurity.eu/eu-unveils-ai-tech-sovereign…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Yet like a digital phoenix, Huawei has risen from the ashes of Western sanctions, demonstrating both the power and limitations of technological warfare. The European response to Huawei illustrates the…
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/geopolitics-digital-sovereign…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — South Africa is accelerating visa reforms and expanding air connectivity as it seeks to tap fast-growing tourism demand from Global South markets, with new digital entry systems and long-haul routes e…
https://www.thetraveler.org/south-africa-targets-global-sout…
help
“One such example is the Fediverse, which includes platforms like micro-blogging site Mastodon and video sharing site PeerTube.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided in the search results to confirm the relationship between the Fediverse, Mastodon, and PeerTube.
help
“the AT protocol, which powers micro-blogging sites Bluesky and Eurosky”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided in the search results regarding the AT protocol, Bluesky, or Eurosky.
schedule
“Open-source office suites such as LibreOffice have provided alternatives to Microsoft Office for more than two decades.”
PENDING
schedule
“When Twitter was bought by Elon Musk, many users fragmented to other sites – from Mastodon and Threads to Bluesky and others.”
PENDING
schedule
“Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, patented the technology that led to wifi.”
PENDING
schedule
“Groups such as Maiam nayri Wingara and the HASS and Indigenous Research Data Commons have already developed internationally significant frameworks for Indigenous data sovereignty.”
PENDING
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.