Technofascism
algorithmic authoritarianism and the usurpation of democratic legitimacy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70622/2238-7110.2026.748Keywords:
Technofascism, Algorithmic authoritarianism, Digital platforms, Technopolitical power, Elon Musk, Democracy, Attention economy, Algorithmic opacityAbstract
This article examines the concept of “technofascism” as an analytical category for understanding the convergence among digital platform architecture, concentrated economic power, and politically authoritarian projects. Using examples such as Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, the text argues that technofascism represents the private appropriation of personal data and the informational ecology by technological elites who act as political agents, shaping public opinion and eroding democratic institutions. The methodology combines critical theory of technology (Adorno; Horkheimer, 1985; Ellul, 1968, 1973, 2019) with political economy of communication and comparative historical analysis. The article explores the genealogy of techno-power, from instrumental reason and technocracy to its contemporary digital manifestation, identifying five structural pillars: attention economy, data extraction and surveillance capitalism, algorithmic power, opacity, and power concentration. It also analyzes the material basis of technofeudal power and the psychosocial conditions that sustain technopolitical domination. Paradigmatic cases, such as the Trump administration and Musk's management of X, illustrate pathways for the consolidation of the phenomenon. The conclusion advocates for democratic regulation, algorithmic transparency, institutional strengthening, and an ethical-cultural reconstruction to contain the erosion of the public sphere and reaffirm the primacy of the political over the technical.
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