US tech dominance was meant to bring prosperity-but disempowerment seems to be the result

Two and a half centuries ago, the American colonies launched a violent protest against British rule, triggered by parliament's imposition of a monopoly on the sale of tea and the antics of a vainglorious king.

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Today, the tables have turned: it is Great Britain that finds itself at the mercy of major US tech firms - so huge and dominant that they constitute monopolies in their fields - as well as the whims of an erratic president. Yet, to the outside observer, Britain seems curiously at ease with this arrangement - at times even eager to subsidise its own economic dependence. Britain is hardly alone in submitting to the power of American firms, but it offers a clear case study in why nations need to develop a coordinated response to the rise of these hegemonic companies.

The current age of American tech monopoly began in the 2000s, when the UK, like many other countries, became almost entirely dependent on a small number of US platforms - Google, Facebook, Amazon and a handful of others. It was a time of optimism about the internet as a democratising force, characterised by the belief that these platforms would make everyone rich.

The dream of the 1990s - naive but appealing was that anyone with a hobby or talent could go online and make a living from it.

US tech dominance wasn't the result of a single policy decision. Yet it was still a choice that countries made - as is highlighted by China's decision to block foreign sites and build its own.