‘If we don’t fight back, we don’t have a future’: the journalist taking on the ‘tech fascists’ of Silicon Valley

Gil Durán has emerged as a pointed critic of Silicon Valley’s most powerful figures, arguing that tech billionaires have grown so rich and influential that they have largely abandoned democracy. In his new book, The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy, Durán contends that big tech is no longer a benevolent force but a bloc of owners who have seized economic and political power and are steering the planet toward what he describes as bizarre, apocalyptic ends.

That argument became personal in April, when Durán was permanently banned from Elon Musk’s X after replying to a Palantir post with just two words: “TLDR: Fascism.” The post he was criticizing outlined Palantir’s 22-point “technological manifesto,” which praised American “hard power,” western culture and AI weapons, while denouncing inclusivity and calling for compulsory national service.

Durán says his post did not violate X’s written rules, making the ban, in his view, a sharp contradiction of Musk’s claim to be a “free-speech absolutist.” He also suggests the suspension may have been connected to an earlier post showing the cover of his book, which directly targets what he calls Silicon Valley fascism and the growing anti-democratic ambitions of its elite.