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Marietje-schaake
Marietje Schaake

The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley

Marietje Schaake

Sunday, 6 April 2025

2:00pm

1 hour

Weston Lecture Theatre

£8 - £15

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Policy analyst and former Dutch MEP Marietje Schaake says the rise of unregulated technology is bad news for democracies and citizens and argues for changes to empower politicians and citizens.

Schaake says technology companies have used innovation as a cover to resist regulation and even seize power from governments. She highlights facial recognition, cryptocurrency, spyware and the sale of digital tools to anyone who can afford them as ways in which unregulated technology have become an instrument for autocrats. Schaake explains how democratic leaders can counter this imbalance and argues that they can and must resist the influence of corporate lobbying from technology firms.

Schaake is international policy director at Stanford University Cyber Policy Centre and international policy fellow at Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence. She was a member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands for ten years and writes a monthly column for the Financial Times on technology and governance.

Part of the festival’s programme of American literature and culture.

The Telegraph Festival media partner University of Oxford European Union Bodleian Libraries Festival cultural partner Oxford Martin School Festival ideas partner Oxford Mathematics Spanish Embassy The Spanish Embassy: supporters of the programme of Spanish literature and culture Spain Arts and Culture Blackwell’s Festival on-site and online bookseller Symington Wines of the Douro Valley HM Government of Gibraltar Compassion in World Farming Pasture to Plate Old Bank Hotel Five-star hotel partners of The Oxford Collection Old Parsonage Hotel Five-star hotel partners of The Oxford Collection Oxford Brookes University Oxford International Centre for Publishing Gravita Accountants to the festival Mirabaud Private bank - London Confucius Institute Voltaire Foundation Felicity Bryan Associates Goldmoney Properties Princeton University Press Prestige publishing partner. Celebrating 25 years in Europe in 2024 Oxford University Department for Continuing Education Jewish Book Week Partner of Oxford Literary Festival Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize Jim Mellon Miles Young Tim and Marion Stevenson Martin and Elise Becket Smith Jason and Heidi Smith David Isaac Other donors Yale University Press London New College New College founded 1379 Exeter College Exeter College: college home of the festival. Founded 1314 Worcester College Worcester College founded 1714 Lincoln College Lincoln College founded 1427 Trinity College Trinity College founded 1555 Magdalen College Magdalen College founded 1458 Reuben College Reuben College founded in 2019 Harris Manchester College Harris Manchester College founded 1893 Pusey House Founded 1884 New Dutch Writing Human Ecology Project MACROVegan Colbenson Festival digital strategy & web design Racalia Olive Oil Olive oil from Sicily Paul Bloomfield Ltd University of Oxford Alumni Office Alumni Office The Sheldonian Theatre Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Italian Cultural Institute Oxford University Images Oxford University Images CAV Oxford The Litmus Partnership Schoolreaders Science Oxford Windrush Group The Oxford Times BBC Radio Oxford Local radio partner Conference Oxford Ox in a Box OX magazine

The Oxford Literary Festival sponsors, donors & partners

The Telegraph Festival media partner University of Oxford European Union Bodleian Libraries Festival cultural partner Oxford Martin School Festival ideas partner Oxford Mathematics Spanish Embassy The Spanish Embassy: supporters of the programme of Spanish literature and culture Spain Arts and Culture Blackwell’s Festival on-site and online bookseller Symington Wines of the Douro Valley HM Government of Gibraltar Compassion in World Farming Pasture to Plate Old Bank Hotel Five-star hotel partners of The Oxford Collection Old Parsonage Hotel Five-star hotel partners of The Oxford Collection Oxford Brookes University Oxford International Centre for Publishing Gravita Accountants to the festival Mirabaud Private bank - London Confucius Institute Voltaire Foundation Felicity Bryan Associates Goldmoney Properties Princeton University Press Prestige publishing partner. Celebrating 25 years in Europe in 2024 Oxford University Department for Continuing Education Jewish Book Week Partner of Oxford Literary Festival Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize Jim Mellon Miles Young Tim and Marion Stevenson Martin and Elise Becket Smith Jason and Heidi Smith David Isaac Other donors Yale University Press London New College New College founded 1379 Exeter College Exeter College: college home of the festival. Founded 1314 Worcester College Worcester College founded 1714 Lincoln College Lincoln College founded 1427 Trinity College Trinity College founded 1555 Magdalen College Magdalen College founded 1458 Reuben College Reuben College founded in 2019 Harris Manchester College Harris Manchester College founded 1893 Pusey House Founded 1884 New Dutch Writing Human Ecology Project MACROVegan Colbenson Festival digital strategy & web design Racalia Olive Oil Olive oil from Sicily Paul Bloomfield Ltd University of Oxford Alumni Office Alumni Office The Sheldonian Theatre Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Italian Cultural Institute Oxford University Images Oxford University Images CAV Oxford The Litmus Partnership Schoolreaders Science Oxford Windrush Group The Oxford Times BBC Radio Oxford Local radio partner Conference Oxford Ox in a Box OX magazine