Increasingly, rules are being set not in government offices but in Silicon Valley boardrooms, biotech labs, and on decentralized network servers. The rule of law, elections, and civic oversight — once pillars of society — are becoming obstacles rather than foundations for some leaders of the digital age.
What once seemed like the plot of a dystopian novel is starting to materialize. Cities run by companies, with no elections and little democratic accountability, are no longer just a futuristic concept. Architect and urban theorist Patrik Schumacher has long promoted the idea of private cities in Europe, where corporate statutes would replace local laws.
This isn’t just an urbanist vision — it’s a fundamental shift in power. When the “mayor” is the CEO and local rules are service agreements, citizens become clients. Instead of casting ballots, they accept the terms of using the space — a consent that can be revoked at any time. Can such a model coexist with the idea of a democratic Europe?
The boundaries of this new power extend beyond physical spaces to our bodies and genetics. Companies like Orchid Health offer embryo selection based on health or intelligence, with access often tied to social status and creditworthiness. What was once seen as eugenics is now marketed as a “lifestyle choice.”
Elon Musk, promoting Neuralink and advocating for “enhancing human intelligence,” openly embraces the ambition to shape humanity’s biological future. Could health and inherited traits become commodities, while genetic diversity is seen as an obstacle? These biotech projects don’t operate in a vacuum — they are supported by a narrative that democratic processes are ineffective at “solving problems.” When the human body becomes a resource, can ethical boundaries still hold?
Digital finance shows the gap between ideology and reality. Cryptocurrencies promised to free citizens from banks and governments, yet wealth has concentrated in the hands of a few “whales” who dominate early investments.
Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), advertised as “leaderless,” function in practice as “one token, one vote.” Decisions are made by those holding the most tokens — those with the most money. Malta’s legal recognition and regulatory support for DAOs introduce this model into the European Union. Is EU law ready for a system where economic power outweighs citizen equality?
The political dimension of these changes is also worrying. Tech leaders — from Musk to Thiel — find allies in far-right European movements like Germany’s AfD, Spain’s Vox, and Italy’s Fratelli d’Italia. They share distrust of democratic regulation and the belief that progress requires freedom from public oversight.
This trend isn’t just a Western issue. Cryptocurrency deregulation and opaque decentralized systems create channels for sanctioned Russian elites to move capital, while Kremlin propaganda exploits any weakening of trust in democratic institutions. Can the EU, built on the rule of law, ignore the infrastructure forming under its nose that empowers forces undermining its foundations?
Private cities, selective biotechnologies, crypto-finance, and political alliances form a coherent pattern. These are not isolated innovations — they are building blocks of a post-democratic order, where real power shifts from public institutions to entities beyond citizen oversight.
Are there tools left to counter this trend? Updating antitrust laws, extending the rule of law to digital finance and blockchain, and fostering open debates on bioethics are critical. But beyond regulation, this is about society’s capacity to defend its own agency. When citizens become clients and states service providers, will people still fight for democracy?
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