Politico October 31, 2025
Julia Angwin is a veteran investigative reporter and publisher known for groundbreaking, data-driven stories on the power of technology over our lives — including racially biased criminal-justice algorithms, corporate power in online marketplaces and how social-media companies exacerbate partisan tensions. She founded The Markup in 2018, and was recently appointed as the inaugural director of the Harvard Shorenstein Center’s initiative on independent media. Angwin talked to DFD about the importance of smartphones for counter-surveilling the government and what DOGE reveals about existing privacy laws.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What’s one underrated big idea?
The industry we call tech has transformed into media. Their political power comes largely from their role as information gatekeepers. They are...
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