Taking on Big Tech

Big Tech companies and their billionaire owners have too much power. 

Meta is fuelling a mental health crisis. Amazon exploits its workers. X is boosting fascist and racist posts. These companies – used by billions of us – make billions in profits, but they are too big, poorly regulated, and under-taxed.

Their billionaire owners, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk, have close ties to the Trump administration, having donated to Donald Trump’s election campaign or inauguration. 

Elon Musk leads “DOGE”, the project to cut billions from US government spending, with deadly consequences.

These billionaires are oligarchs – using their immense wealth to dictate US political priorities and enrich themselves further.

Now, Donald Trump is working his way down Big Tech’s wishlist to please his billionaire backers – and wants the UK to give tax cuts to these tech giants as part of future US-UK trade deal negotiations. 

The UK’s Digital Services Tax (DST) is a tiny 2% tax that only applies to the very richest tech companies with large revenues in both the UK and globally. 

You can learn more about the DST from Tax Justice UK here. 

This tax on big tech should be strengthened, not cut. Many Labour MPs oppose cutting the tax, and the Liberal Democrats support increasing it from 2% to 10%.

The tax currently brings in around £800 million a year to the UK. By raising tax on these tech giants, the UK can invest in hospitals, schools, and communities – and avoid cuts to our social security system.

That’s a much better deal than trading it away as part of a toxic trade deal with the US.

Let’s keep fighting to ensure big tech companies – and their Trump-loving billionaire owners – are properly taxed and regulated.