Abstract
Since Donald Trump’s election at the latest, the (American) media landscape and, with it, democratic media regulation have been facing serious challenges: With the heads of “BigTech” from Silicon Valley, who not only control central media platforms but also increasingly seek political proximity, the danger of a new oligarchy is growing. The simultaneity of economic power, political access to government and access to public opinion has a special quality – and could create devastating interdependencies. While the (European) debates to date have been characterized by moral outrage and helplessness, this article attempts to objectify the analysis by uncovering the intellectual roots of the Californian understanding of freedom, tracing the thought logic of the main protagonists Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg and ultimately deriving recommendations for action for Europe.