Reading news online without the involvement of American tech companies has become nearly impossible. News organisations are deeply intertwined with companies such as Google, Microsoft, Meta and OpenAI, creating both democratic and economic risks. Hannes Cools, assistant professor of communication science at the University of Amsterdam, views this dependency as an urgent problem and is working toward a more autonomous digital future for journalism.
Cools describes the situation facing news media in stark terms: they are connected to a digital drip, and when that drip is in foreign hands, the consequences extend beyond the media sector to democracy itself. When Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2024, Dutch newsrooms began to recognise that their reliance on American tech companies carries significant risks. Servers, cloud systems and software are largely controlled by a small number of commercial parties, giving those parties influence over access to information.
Cools illustrates this risk with a concrete example from the judiciary. A judge at the International Criminal Court in The Hague suddenly lost access to his email account after Microsoft blocked him. Although this example comes from another pillar of democracy, it demonstrates how vulnerable organisations become when they depend on external commercial parties. The same dynamic can occur in journalism, placing increasing pressure on the press’s role as a democratic watchdog.
Beyond democratic risks, there are also economic dangers for news organisations. Search engines and social media platforms are increasingly adding AI layers on top of search results, reducing the likelihood that users will click through to news sites. Platforms such as Meta are designed to keep users on their own platform, which further reduces traffic to journalistic websites. This trend is expected to have a significant impact on the reach of news organisations in the years ahead.
Cools is now working with De Correspondent and Follow The Money, among others, on a project aimed at giving newsrooms greater digital autonomy. The goal is not to replace all services currently provided by American tech companies, but to identify which organisations, platforms and tools better align with the values that news organisations pursue. Cools is affiliated with the AI, Media and Democracy Lab at the University of Amsterdam and has previously collaborated with newsrooms including the BBC and NOS, as well as media companies DPG and Mediahuis.
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