American History Hotline
Episode: How Did Big Tech Take Over Our Elections?
Host: Bob Crawford
Guest: Roger McNamee (tech investor, author of Zucked: Waking up to the Facebook Catastrophe)
Release Date: November 5, 2025
Overview
In this episode of American History Hotline, host Bob Crawford sits down with veteran tech investor and outspoken Big Tech critic Roger McNamee to answer listener questions about the role of technology—especially Big Tech and AI—in shaping American elections and democracy. Drawing from his decades-long career in Silicon Valley, McNamee offers candid insight into how technology platforms have evolved from idealistic community-building tools to instruments of manipulation, surveillance, and political power, especially in recent U.S. elections.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. The Roots of Political Technology & the Internet’s Libertarian DNA
- Early days: Political tech goes back decades, beginning with voter databases and direct mail in the ’60s and ’70s, and evolving with computers and the Internet.
- John Perry Barlow and Internet Libertarianism:
- Barlow envisioned the internet as a libertarian utopia—an unregulated open field for community and expression.
- McNamee disputes the feasibility and desirability of pure libertarianism for a functioning society:
"I believe that libertarianism, it’s too anarchic for me. You know, I do believe societies need structure to survive." (Roger McNamee, 10:48)
- Design flaw: The lack of built-in identity and payments in the internet’s architecture, rooted in these libertarian ideals, has enabled trolling and abuse.
"The ability to obscure your identity led to massive trolling, and that’s not a good thing, in my opinion." (Roger McNamee, 13:37)
2. From Data Sharing to Manipulative Microtargeting (Obama 2012 → Trump 2016 & Beyond)
- Obama 2012: Facebook and the Obama campaign pioneered data mining, with users unwittingly sharing their friends’ data for political targeting.
"The underlying issue that I, as a Facebook user, could share my 1000 friends...with a political campaign without the permission of the people who are affected, that was wrong." (Roger McNamee, 15:38)
- Regulatory failures: FTC consent decree with Facebook (2011) was ignored.
- Trump 2016 & Cambridge Analytica:
- Trump’s campaign, using Cambridge Analytica, Facebook data, and Russian-hacked DNC material, orchestrated highly targeted suppression campaigns.
- Facebook and Microsoft employees worked directly with the campaign.
"[They] created and targeted ads which were designed to suppress votes of white suburban women, young people and people of color...with uncanny accuracy, they suppressed those three constituencies in precisely the congressional districts that they needed to decide the election." (Roger McNamee, 19:07)
- Crucial Mistake: Clinton campaign refused to use these tools, leaving an asymmetric playing field.
3. How Tech Platforms Enabled January 6 and the Spread of Alternative Realities
- QAnon’s rise: FBI warned Facebook in 2019 about QAnon’s potential; by June 2020, millions of QAnon members were active. Facebook not only failed to curb it, but its algorithmic radicalization fueled growth and conspiracy believing.
- COVID’s effect: Pandemic conditions catalyzed paranoia and conspiracy, while Facebook’s economic model favored radicalization.
- Stop the Steal: Trump melded MAGA and QAnon audiences, priming them through online communities for January 6.
"Of the thousands of people who attacked the Capitol on January 6th...the vast majority...were groomed either by anti vax, QAnon or MAGA to be incredibly vulnerable to this alternate reality..." (Roger McNamee, 28:53)
4. The “Bro Podcaster” Effect and Decline of Civic Discourse
- Influencer amplifiers: Conservative megaphones like Ben Shapiro, Charlie Kirk, Steve Bannon, and Joe Rogan provided a new vector for opinion-shaping, tilting the political tech landscape further.
- Consumerization of citizenship:
- Over 70 years, Americans have come to see themselves more as consumers than citizens, eroding shared sacrifice and civic interest.
"We trained Americans to view themselves as consumers first as opposed to being citizens." (Roger McNamee, 33:38)
- Democratic party negligence: McNamee calls out Democrats for embracing deregulation and not fighting the growing power of tech monopolies, actively contributing to today’s crisis.
5. AI: "Fascism in a Box" and Its Threat to Democracy
- AI’s damaging rollout:
- Massive investments have led to resource waste (energy, water), privacy destruction, and theft of copyrighted work, without proportional benefits.
- McNamee is deeply critical of Silicon Valley’s motives and methods:
"AI, as currently practiced, is probably the most evil class of technology products ever created." (Roger McNamee, 37:11)
- Societal disruption:
- COVID and labor unrest sparked industry’s pivot to AI as “workforce discipline” and a means to eliminate creative jobs.
"The whole exercise is...to unemploy every creative person in the economy. That's the goal." (Roger McNamee, 39:09)
- COVID and labor unrest sparked industry’s pivot to AI as “workforce discipline” and a means to eliminate creative jobs.
- Political implications: While the worst AI electoral impacts are yet to come, McNamee warns the risks are existential and imminent.
6. The Path Forward—What Can Individuals Do?
- Institutions have failed: Politicians and media are "on the wrong side," leaving change up to individuals.
- Personal action: McNamee urges listeners to reconsider their relationship to technology, advocating for personal boycotts of the most invasive platforms.
"If you don’t abandon these products, you’re screwed...Just say no." (Roger McNamee, 42:48)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On the “Original Sin” of the Internet
"The decision not to build identity into it, decision not to have a separate payment system, those are two things I think we've regretted."
— Roger McNamee (12:45) -
On Targeted Disinformation & Electoral Suppression
"Trump looked at it and went, wow, we're going to win because of this... [They] created and targeted ads...to suppress votes of white suburban women, young people and people of color..."
— Roger McNamee (19:07) -
On QAnon & January 6th
"The Trump campaign had this genius insight, which was that Covid created a perfect melting pot and grounds for conspiracy theories...So he merges Maga with QAnon...and has this massive conspiracy theory network online in his pocket."
— Roger McNamee (27:57) -
On Tech’s Assault on Democracy
"AI is literally fascism in a box, right? Because you're essentially concentrating economic power in the hands of a handful of people at the expense of hundreds of millions, if not billions of people."
— Roger McNamee (40:12) -
On Agency and Resistance
"Our only hope at this point, because politicians are on the wrong side, the press is on the wrong side, every institution's on the wrong side. It's totally on us. What are you willing to give up in order to be part of the solution?"
— Roger McNamee (42:27)
Timestamps for Crucial Segments
- Intro & Guest Introduction: 03:43–04:52
- What Is Political Technology? 05:00–07:19
- Reflections on the Early Silicon Valley & John Perry Barlow: 07:39–13:04
- Obama 2012 & the Evolution Toward Microtargeting: 15:20–19:01
- Trump 2016, Cambridge Analytica, and Suppression Tactics: 19:07–21:23
- Role of Facebook and Social Media in January 6th: 27:57–33:05
- Right-Wing Media Ecosystem & Consumer vs. Citizen: 33:05–36:52
- AI: Threat & Tech Industry Motives: 36:52–42:10
- What Can We Do—Calls to Action: 42:10–43:18
Final Thoughts
This episode lays out a sobering, historically grounded case for how technology—especially Big Tech platforms and AI—has been systematically weaponized in the political sphere, with consequences that reverberate beyond any one election. Roger McNamee provides both a critique of past choices and a call to personal responsibility, urging each listener to recognize and resist the corrosive influence of these technologies on democracy.
If you want comprehensive insight into the evolution of political technology, the failures of regulatory and political systems, and the existential choices facing citizens in the age of Big Tech, this is a must-listen episode.