The Quiet Rise of Technofeudalism

Medieval Lords Controlled Land. Today's Platform Owners Control Digital Territory.

As digital platforms increasingly shape how Americans shop, work, communicate, and consume information, the balance of economic power is shifting in ways that deserve far more scrutiny. Yanis Varoufakis’s idea of technofeudalism offers a useful lens for understanding how a small number of tech giants may be concentrating wealth, controlling access, and reshaping the rules of modern economic life.

By Philip Brown · July 14, 2026