3 things you should know about tech & the internet in 2025

What is there to say really? A few weeks in to the new year and so much has happened. Also: I’m really sorry for the amount of times I had to say Trump in this piece. But it’s important that we know what’s coming in order to organize against it. So let’s get to it.

1: If you thought online hate speech and disinformation was bad before, 2025 said “watch this.” Of course that was true before this moment. However, tech CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg are now saying it with their whole chest. In an effort to align with the Trump administration, Mark Zuckerberg started out the year by completely gutting fact checking and allowing for hate speech to be posted across Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Some of the dangerous things that are now allowed include: “Black people are more violent than whites” and "A trans person isn't a he or she, it's an it."

None of these changes are about “free speech” or “legitimate political debate” which Zuckerberg claims he is trying to protect. This policy change is a clear political message: Meta will let Trump and Trump ideology run free as long as this administration doesn’t hold Zuckerberg accountable. 

2: Tech is out here accelerating climate and impacting our climate resilience. At the top of this year, Los Angeles was literally on fire, with no water to put it out. And I couldn’t help but wonder: how did a city’s hydrants run dry and does surging AI use have anything to do with it? 

AI data centers need water in order to cool down massive servers and keep them running (and keep making Big Tech money). Water usage by major tech companies like Google has skyrocketed in the last few years. In 2023, Google used 5.6 billion gallons of water — a 20% increase from just 2 years prior — which, in part, can be attributed to rapid growth of AI business. Meanwhile, people lost their lives, homes, and whole neighborhoods to a fire that the city struggled to put out.

According to Data Center Map there are 286 data centers in California with more 60 in Los Angeles alone. The fires highlight how municipalities are fighting to keep up with the demand on an already limited water supply. This conundrum has been noted by several California lawmakers who have introduced 3 bills aimed at curbing water usage by AI companies. 

3: Big Tech is batting their eyelashes at the government and we really hate to see it. Over on the east coast, in the highest court of our country, every last one of the Supreme Court justices decided that the government should definitely be able to make decisions on what information and platforms we can access by upholding a ban on TikTok. But then in a great show of political theater, TikTok then went dark in the U.S. for 12 hours before coming back online the next day, and greeting users with a notification thanking President Trump (even though he introduced this ban in the first place. WTF?!).

The day after that, Trump was sworn in as President with Big Tech bros, including the CEO of TikTok himself, taking up the front row. Literally lined up in front of him. Elon Musk headlined an inauguration day rally while Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Meta, and Open AI donated millions of dollars to Trump’s inaugural fund. 

It’s clear from all of three of these examples where Big Tech’s priorities and allegiances lie. Trump and his supporters get to lie and slur all over the internet, while our government makes regressive censorship laws, and Big Tech continues to make billions off our data. And we’re just supposed to be thankful that platforms like Instagram exist? Nah.

Big Tech is not going to be held accountable by this administration, and with people like Elon Musk given free rein to head up government departments, Big Tech will be a right hand in this administration — having the power to continue to perpetuate the worst injustices in our society.

This moment is going to require people power and action across the movement to build a world where tech works for all.

Ready to join us? We’ve already been working. Click here to join the campaign demanding Meta reinstatement protections for women, LGBTQ+ people, Black and brown people on their platforms immediately.

And now for some fun internet stuff

Dog. in. a. snow. suit.

@onlylovethesummer