Alex Gabriel: The Battle for the Soul of the Digital Nation

By Alex Gabriel
During Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign, I co-chaired Out for Biden—one of the largest constituent voter engagement efforts in American history — during what Biden himself called a “battle for the soul of the nation.” In this fight, tech platforms weren’t just tools for communication; they were battlefields where truth, misinformation, and the soul of democracy collided. Disinformation wasn’t just noise on the digital airwaves—it was a weapon, wielded to erode public trust, divide families, and destabilize democracy. Every viral falsehood, amplified by algorithms designed for engagement rather than accuracy, chipped away at the foundations of shared reality. And as much as we fought back—with fact-checking, rapid response teams, and relentless truth-telling—it often felt like a losing war.
Platforms that once made lofty commitments to curb disinformation have now abandoned those efforts entirely. Meta announced it would stop fact-checking political content, leaving a gaping hole in the defenses against online falsehoods. Meanwhile, Elon Musk has transformed X into a digital Wild West, where misinformation spreads unchecked under the guise of “free speech.” These decisions aren’t just business strategies; they’re ideological declarations. And the consequences reach far beyond the tech sector—they threaten the very survival of democracy.
Carl Sagan foresaw the dangers of this anti-democratic drift in his 1995 book The Demon-Haunted World. He warned of a future where “awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues.” He decried the “celebration of ignorance” in media, where sound bites shrink and critical thinking erodes. Today, his words feel eerily prescient. The very platforms that promised to connect us now amplify the worst tendencies of human nature: polarization, misinformation, and a collapse of shared reality.
As a tech founder now myself, I understand the tension between innovation, profit, and accountability. I’ve sat in rooms where decisions about algorithms and AI guardrails were made, and I’ve seen how easily the drive for growth can eclipse concerns about public safety. But what we’re witnessing now is something far more menacing. This isn’t just neglect—it’s a deliberate dismantling of the guardrails that once protected truth and accountability online.
If we are to reclaim the future of technology, we must prioritize building platforms that uplift truth, democracy, and shared values over those that profit from division. I experienced the urgency of those guardrails firsthand when I was invited to the White House to witness President Biden sign the nation’s first executive order on AI. That framework was a landmark attempt to place meaningful limits on the development of artificial intelligence, addressing risks like disinformation, surveillance, and algorithmic bias. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a critical step toward ensuring that technology serves humanity rather than undermines it.
Now, Donald Trump’s move to rescind that framework—without offering any thoughtful replacement—reveals the fragility of progress in the face of authoritarian politics. Worse, it aligns him with tech billionaires like Musk, Zuckerberg, and Peter Thiel, whose ideological ambitions are reshaping our digital future in profoundly undemocratic ways. Driven by a relentless hunger for more—more wealth, more control, more power—they act as though they’re remaking the world in their image, as if they were gods. This desire for unchecked expansion, at the expense of democracy, is not about building a better future, but about securing their own dominance.
But there is an ideology behind the chaos. What unites these tech leaders isn’t just their immense wealth or power—it’s a shared belief system. Their worldview blends libertarianism with a kind of Silicon Valley futurism that sees traditional constraints as obstacles to be obliterated. Musk dreams of colonizing Mars, Zuckerberg envisions the Metaverse as humanity’s next frontier, and Thiel imagines “startup cities” free from the burdens of democracy. In their vision, the future belongs to those who can seize it—regardless of the cost to the rest of humanity. Zuckerberg’s famous mantra, “move fast and break things,” encapsulates this ethos: progress is paramount, even if it means breaking the systems that hold society together.
This ideology aligns disturbingly well with Trumpism. Like these tech billionaires, Trump rejects constraints—whether they come in the form of laws, norms, or basic truth. His disdain for accountability makes him a natural partner for those who view regulation as an existential threat. Together, they form a powerful alliance, one that prioritizes profit and power over public safety and democratic values.
The dangers of this alliance aren’t theoretical. We’ve already seen how disinformation can cost lives. During the COVID-19 pandemic, conspiracy theories spread faster than the virus itself, undermining public health efforts and fueling vaccine hesitancy. Communities fractured as false narratives deepened divides, turning neighbors into enemies and families against one another. The human cost of these lies is incalculable.
And it’s not just about public health. Disinformation has been weaponized in countless ways—fueling hate crimes, destabilizing elections, and enabling authoritarian regimes to consolidate power. The January 6th insurrection was a stark reminder of what happens when falsehoods take root and metastasize. It wasn’t just an attack on the Capitol; it was an attack on the idea that truth itself matters.
Despite the grim trajectory, it’s not too late to change course. The same platforms that now amplify lies and division still hold the power to rebuild trust and accountability. But that requires leadership—leadership that prioritizes the public good over short-term profits. If Musk, Zuckerberg, and their counterparts won’t rise to the occasion, then we must build alternatives that will. It’s time to leave their platforms en masse and regroup elsewhere, where our values can guide our progress.
Governments also have a critical role to play. Since we’ve lost control of the federal government to an authoritarian regime under Trump, state-level leaders must step in to ensure protections, much like how abortion rights and gay marriage are safeguarded in some states, regardless of federal changes or SCOTUS rulings. We need robust, enforceable regulations that hold tech companies accountable for the harm they enable.
Finally, everyday people have power too. By questioning what we share, supporting trustworthy journalism, and demanding better from our leaders, we can push back against the tide of disinformation. It’s not easy—but the stakes are too high to do nothing.
What should give us hope is the resilience of those already fighting back. From journalists exposing corruption to activists challenging tech platforms, there’s a growing movement to reclaim truth and accountability in the digital age. These are the people building a future where technology serves humanity rather than undermines it. That future is still possible, but it requires immediate action—not just from the few at the top, but from the collective power of all of us, including state leaders, employees, and citizens who are committed to defending democracy.
The choice is ours. We can let disinformation and unchecked power drag us into dystopia, or we can demand a better path—one where truth, democracy, and humanity prevail.
Alex Gabriel is the co-founder of Rally AI, as well as a former Senior Advisor for the Biden 2020 campaign and former Co-Chair of Out for Biden.