SG - Wiring World Order with Big-Tech
In short
Lecture- 3 February 2026
- 20.00h
- Impulse Wageningen Campus
- Speaker: Mark Owen Jones
To what extent could big-tech influence outcomes on the geo-political horizon? What do we actually know about the bromance between the ‘tech bro’s’ and authoritarianism?
View more activities in our series 'New World Order'
About Wiring World Order with Big-Tech
The systems and processes driving daily life around the planet feature digital technologies that permeate our everyday interactions in work, study and our most intimate spheres. Those behind it have amassed not only fortunes but also steering power and influence. This big-tech clique with its global digital empires are more than just entrepreneurs with clout. In unprecedented geo-political times, it is worth asking the question, how does big tech figure into the equation of world order? What do we actually know about their power and political (dys)influence? Dr. Marc Owen Jones shares his years of research on the bromance between the ‘tech bro’s’ and authoritarianism. He takes us on a tour of the wiring of the world as a backdrop to emerging powers. To what extent could big-tech influence outcomes on the geo-political horizon? He invites us consider our own agency in this present moment as we explore their (dys)influence at the core and peripheries of process driven societies.
About series New World Order
The global context in which some of the most pressing planetary challenges need to be addressed is shifting. From trade to climate crises measures and beyond, the international sphere of power and relations between states touches our fields of expertise as well as our professional and private lives. Fractures and fissures in world order are shaking the foundations of the structures and arrangements long taken for granted. Take stock of shifting power dynamics and explore what is emerging on the horizon. Who or what is shaping new world order? Navigate with us through that which can make us feel small and powerless with fresh insights that even speak to our sense of agency in a complex world.
Mark Owen Jones
About Mark Owen Jones
Marc Owen Jones is an Associate Professor of Media Analytics at Northwestern University in Qatar, where he specialises in exposing disinformation campaigns and investigating digital authoritarianism in the Middle East. A leading expert in social media manipulation, disinformation and political repression, his groundbreaking research has uncovered networks of fake journalists and state-sponsored bot/trolls campaigns targeting global politics.
In addition to his other academic publications, Jones has authored two books: "Political Repression in Bahrain" (Cambridge University Press, 2020) and "Digital Authoritarianism in the Middle East" (Hurst/Oxford University Press, 2022). His work has earned multiple accolades, including the British Council's UK Alumni Professional Achievement Award and one of Foreign Affairs' 2023 "Books of the Year." His PhD thesis also won the AGAPS award for best thesis in 2016.
His investigations have made headlines globally, from revealing disinformation surrounding Jamal Khashoggi's murder to successfully challenging the UK Foreign Office in a tribunal over historical torture cases in Bahrain. Jones work appears regularly in major media outlets, ranging from The New York Times and The Washington Post, to Al Jazeera English and the BBC. Jones grew up in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and has worked and studied in Sudan, Syria, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Date
20:00 - 22:00