Tom Fletcher | Big Tech Debate | Opposition (4/8) | Oxford Union

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Big Tech has opened up the world by making it smaller than ever before, but at what cost? It knows our most intimate secrets, shapes our next move, and offers us the instant validation we crave. Absorbing competitors at their inception, the world’s largest technology companies have acquired unprecedented market power, but the debate about breaking up Big Tech appears to be going around in circles. Has the pandemic proven Big Tech’s indispensability, and is there still time to heal our relationship with Big Tech?

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Proposition Speakers

1. Professor William Kovacic

Lawyer, Non-Executive Director of the Competition and Markets Authority Board, and former Chair of the Federal Trade Commission. He is currently a Professor at George Washington University Law School and writes on the legal regulation of tech firms.

2. Professor Steve Fuller

Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick, with a focus on science, technology, and transhumanism. He is the author of Humanity 2.0 and Post Truth: Knowledge as a Power Game.

3. Damian Collins MP

Conservative MP and current Chair of the UK Parliament Joint Committee on the Draft Online Safety Bill. He launched a high-profile inquiry into disinformation and fake news in the wake of the 2016 US election and has campaigned for greater digital regulation.

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Opposition Speakers

1. Tom Fletcher CMG

Principal of Hertford College and former Britsh Ambassador to Lebanon. He spearheaded the launch of the UK Lebanon Tech Hub and is a member of the Global Tech Panel.

2. Professor Sue Black OBE

Social entrepreneur, Professor of Computer Science, and Technology Evangelist at Durham University. She is the Founding Chair of the British Computer Society Specialist Group BCSWomen.

3. Reshma Saujani

Lawyer, politician and founder of the charity Girls Who Code, which aims to increase the number of women in computer science. She was the first Indian American woman to run for US Congress and is a bestselling author.

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