Roos, C. (2026). Resisting Big Tech: Countergovernance and the future of AI democracy. In N. A. Smuha, V. Hendrickx, & J. Petroons (Eds.), Blog symposium 2026 (Law, Ethics and Policy of AI Blog, KU Leuven) (p. 34). https://www.law.kuleuven.be/ai-summer-school/blogpost/Blogposts/symposium-on-ai-and-democracy_law-ethics-and-policy-of-ai-blog_march.pdf
This article examines Big Tech as a form of political power that reshapes democratic life and the governance of artificial intelligence. It argues that contemporary AI governance regimes privilege corporate and state interests while failing to protect collective rights, particularly those of marginalized communities. Drawing on empirical cases from Brazil, Canada, and the United States, the article demonstrates how platform infrastructures, weakened content moderation, data extractivism, and military entanglements reinforce structural inequalities and expand corporate influence beyond traditional state boundaries. Building on agonistic democratic theory and the concept of countergovernance, the article proposes a shift from consensus-driven and design-centered approaches toward institutionalized forms of contestation, oversight, and collective judgment. It highlights how civil society mobilizations, legal actions, and grassroots organizing can challenge corporate dominance, disrupt political fatalism, and reclaim democratic agency in AI governance. The analysis further engages with the concept of AI countergovernance to emphasize the need to address not only technological systems, but also the political and economic infrastructures that sustain them.