A weekly newsletter that tells the story of how tech companies became unelected governments and what to do about it, by former Google executive and 30-year Internet veteran Jonathan Bellack.

Posts

Mar 20, 2026

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8 min read

New data shows platforms use terms of service to subvert the rule of law

My rants about online due process are not purely theoretical. Data from the ASML Transparency Hub, compiled by students at Boston University, show that platforms are quietly cutting you off from your country’s justice system and forcing you to accept theirs.

Mar 13, 2026

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8 min read

My turn at the Peter Thiel dunk tank: the nihilism of inventing our way backward

Seventeen years ago, billionaire Peter Thiel declared that freedom and democracy are incompatible. That’s the kind of defeatism that gets me riled up. Democracy needs innovation, not despair.

Mar 6, 2026

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9 min read

Explainer #6: How population growth forced democracy to evolve

Democracies worldwide are struggling with the scale and velocity of the modern world, and online platforms are bigger than most countries. Looking at history shows that the size of a community changes democracy, but doesn't mean we need to abandon it.

Feb 27, 2026

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9 min read

Magna Carta proves we deserve the rule of law online. No, really.

Rabble’s Social Media Bill of Rights sent me down a rabbit hole to the grand-daddy of declarations – Magna Carta, issued in England by King John in 1215. Its most radical turn of phrase points the way to online democracy today.

Feb 20, 2026

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9 min read

Due process transparency, continued: does safety require secrecy?

Last week, I dodged the difficult question of whether transparency would help bad actors more than the rest of us. Secrecy is necessary today, but only as a band-aid on an enormous self-inflicted wound: easy, open account sign-ups.