Corporate scandals today are no longer about yachts or tweets—they’re about the abuse of institutional power. Many CEOs quietly supply the machinery that amplifies authoritarian governance.

Palantir won a $30m ICE contract to build “ImmigrationOS,” an AI “watchtower” to support ICE raids and DOGE surveillance of federal employees. Congressional critics warned of an "unprecedented surveillance nightmare." A UN Special Rapporteur found “reasonable grounds” Palantir’s platform contributed to Israel’s unlawful use of force in Gaza. In Ukraine, Palantir's "digital kill chain" transforms drone footage into targeting. Karp boasts: “Our product is used on occasion to kill people.”

As DOGE chief, a chainsaw-wielding Musk drove staff and aid cuts a modeler estimates caused 720,000 deaths by end 2025, pushing bogus fraud claims to justify them. On X he urged Germans to back far-right AfD as the “last spark of hope,” accused UK PM Starmer of “complicity in the RAPE OF BRITAIN,” and polled 200M followers on whether “America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government.”

Larry doesn’t just sell databases—Oracle helped the Heritage Foundation assemble Project 2025’s database of “vetted and loyal foot soldiers” for a future hard-right government. He openly promotes a surveillance-first worldviewr: citizens will be “on their best behavior because we are constantly recording and reporting everything.” He's a long-time friend of Netanyahu and major donor to the FIDF. His $40B helped his son acquire Paramount, he secured the politicized TikTok deal, and he gathered $500B in AI contracts through regular White House visits.

Zuckerberg dismantled third party fact-checking across the world's largest information platform, eliminated DEI, donated $1M to Trump's inauguration, and "relaxed restrictions" on inflammatory content. He openly conceded “more harmful content will appear,” calling Trump's election a "cultural tipping point" and appointing UFC's Dana White to Meta's board.

The Obama–Clinton–Harris mega-donor told the New York Times: “I fully support the President,” then urging Trump to send the National Guard into San Francisco: “We don’t have enough cops, so if they can be cops, I’m all for it.” Public outrage and the resignation of Ron Conway forced a climb-down. At the same time, Salesforce was pitching ICE on using its AI tools for an “aggressive” campaign to recruit deportation agents.

Many Tech CEOs don't merely express controversial views—they operationalise authoritarian governance. Databases tracking citizens for deportation. Loyalty-screening systems. Dismantled fact-checking. AI-assisted targeting. This is oligarchy in practice: billionaire technologists wielding state-level power without democratic accountability.

#Leadership #Democracy #TechGovernance #Accountability #SurveillanceCapitalism

Selected Sources

Note: This post is not about attacking individuals as individuals; it’s about examining how people in positions of extraordinary economic and institutional power can shape public life in ways that demand scrutiny, accountability, and ethical restraint. When corporate leaders wield state-scale influence, their decisions function as acts of governance. With that power comes a responsibility that deserves rigorous public analysis.

ALEX KARP — VERIFIED SOURCES
PALANTIR ICE “IMMIGRATIONOS” / DIGITAL WATCHTOWER
Wired: ICE paying Palantir $30m to build “ImmigrationOS”
https://www.wired.com/story/ice-palantir-immigrationos/
PALANTIR & ISRAEL / UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR REPORT
PassBlue: UN Special Rapporteur Albanese — “reasonable grounds” Palantir’s AI used in unlawful force
https://passblue.com/2025/10/12/palantir-seemingly-everywhere-all-at-once/
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/palantir-allegedly-enables-israels-ai-targeting-amid-israels-war-in-gaza-raising-concerns-over-war-crimes/
PALANTIR UKRAINE TARGETING / “DIGITAL KILL CHAIN”
Reuters: Karp — “Our product is used on occasion to kill people”
https://www.reuters.com/technology/ukraine-is-using-palantirs-software-targeting-ceo-says-2023-02-02/

ELON MUSK — VERIFIED SOURCES
MUSK AFD ENDORSEMENT (Germany)
CNN: “Only AfD can save Germany”
https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/09/world/musk-livestream-afd-weidel-germany-intl/
PBS / Newshour: “AfD is the last spark of hope for this country”
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/musks-backing-of-far-right-afd-party-creates-uproar-in-germany-ahead-of-key-elections
MUSK vs STARMER (“RAPE OF BRITAIN”)
Voice of America
https://www.voanews.com/amp/uk-s-starmer-slams-lies-and-misinformation-after-attacks-from-elon-musk/7926187.html
POLL: “AMERICA SHOULD LIBERATE THE PEOPLE OF BRITAIN”
NPR
https://www.npr.org/2025/01/07/g-s1-41296/starmer-attacks-elon-musk
DOGE AID CUT DEATH ESTIMATE (300K → 720K)
Wikipedia summary page citing Prof. Brooke Nichols’ modelling
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Government_Efficiency

(Wikipedia’s references include imported PDFs and modelling documents)

LARRY ELLISON — VERIFIED SOURCES
ORACLE SUPPORT FOR PROJECT 2025 PERSONNEL DATABASE
San Francisco Chronicle (citing Politico reporting)
https://www.sfchronicle.com/tech/article/project-2025-oracle-19654875.php
ELLISON’S SURVEILLANCE QUOTE (“we are constantly recording…”)
TechCrunch interview (2024, used as 2025 context)
https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/16/oracle-ceo-larry-ellison-says-that-ai-will-someday-track-your-every-move/
ELLISON’S INFLUENCE IN AI / TIKTOK DEAL / WHITE HOUSE ACCESS
Fortune coverage of Ellison in the AI + surveillance ecosystem
https://fortune.com/2025/09/28/larry-ellison-ai-surveillance-oracle-tiktok-deal-social-media/

MARK ZUCKERBERG — VERIFIED SOURCES
META ENDS FACT-CHECKING / MOVES TO “COMMUNITY NOTES”
Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/technology/meta-ends-third-party-fact-checking-program-adopts-x-like-community-notes-model-2025-01-07/
ZUCKERBERG ADMITS “MORE HARMFUL CONTENT WILL APPEAR”
CNN
https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/07/tech/meta-censorship-moderation
META RELAXES RESTRICTIONS ON IMMIGRATION & GENDER CONTENT
TechPolicy Press (Zuckerberg transcript)
https://www.techpolicy.press/transcript-mark-zuckerberg-announces-major-changes-to-metas-content-moderation-policies-and-operations/
CLIMATE MISINFORMATION RESEARCH STATISTIC (3.6% CHECKED)
LSE Grantham Institute
https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/news/the-myth-of-metas-free-speech-places-democracy-at-risk/

MARC BENIOFF — VERIFIED SOURCES
BENIOFF: “I fully support the President” + NATIONAL GUARD COMMENT
Fortune: “We don’t have enough cops, so if they can be cops, I’m all for it”
https://fortune.com/2025/10/11/tech-ceo-marc-benioff-trump-national-guard-troops-san-francisco/
BENIOFF WALKBACK / PUBLIC OUTRAGE / RON CONWAY RESIGNATION
The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/17/marc-benioff-apologizes-san-francisco-national-guard