Martyn Rhisiart Jones

Madrid, Wednesday 25th February 2026

Prometheus Unhinged: A Vital Wake-Up Call in the Age of Digital Feudalism

In an era where our every scroll, like, and share feeds the insatiable algorithms of Silicon Valley overlords, a bold new talk show has emerged as a beacon of unflinching critique. “Prometheus Unhinged – Social Media Is Amoral, Depraved and Degenerate,” hosted by Martyn Jones of Goodstrat and broadcast across a consortium of global media outlets including the BBC, RTVE, CNN, and FT Weekend, is no mere panel discussion. It’s a razor-sharp dissection of the chasm between social media’s utopian promises and its dystopian realities. Launched on February 25, 2026, this episode – available at goodstrat.com – assembles a formidable roster of journalists and commentators to expose the platforms we inhabit as nothing short of modern feudal empires. Far from the finger-wagging moralism that plagues much tech commentary, this is witty, acerbic, and profoundly humane, reminding us why independent voices matter in a world dominated by billionaire whims.

Jones sets the stage with a nod to the early 2000s hype: social media as “Prometheus unbound,” stealing fire from the gods to empower the masses with democratised speech and flattened hierarchies. Yet, as the panellists deftly argue, that fire has been co-opted, rationed, and weaponised. Sir Afilonius Rex, with his trademark wry smile, kicks off with a delicious anecdote from 2006, when Mark Zuckerberg resembled a “startled undergraduate” and Twitter (now X) was for broadcasting lunch choices. He contrasts this innocent dawn with today’s “new feudalism with better UX.” X, under Elon Musk, becomes a “gilded echo chamber” where dissent is “shadow-banned” and inconvenient facts “deboosted.” Truth Social? A “digital bunker for the paranoid,” where free speech flatters the “Dear Leader.”

Facebook morphs into a “surveillance mall,” harvesting data and monetising outrage. But Rex reserves his sharpest barbs for LinkedIn, dubbing it “corporate Versailles”… a realm of “humblebrags disguised as insights” and “performative grief,” where stepping out of line invites severed connections and rescinded endorsements. His litany of “authoritarian tics” as rage-rewarding algorithms, shadow moderation, and self-censorship is a masterclass in exposing how liberty curdled into “surveillance capitalism’s velvet cage.” Rex’s call to “log off when the mask slips” isn’t defeatist; it’s empowering, urging us to reject the con.

Jilly Penn, the Financial Times columnist, turns her forensic gaze on Musk himself, portraying him as a “self-anointed messiah of free speech” whose $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in 2022 promised a “digital utopia.” Instead, she unmasks the hypocrisy: an “authoritarian” running X as a “personal autocracy,” purging journalists critical of Israel’s Gaza campaign in 2024, suing Media Matters via SLAPP tactics, and complying with censorship demands from Turkey and India while decrying Brazil’s election safeguards as “tyranny.” Penn’s takedown is laced with economic insight. X’s value cratered 70% by 2025, advertisers fled, yet Musk funds Trump PACs, transforming the platform into a “MAGA megaphone” for election lies and doxxing. Likening him to “Icarus with a rocket,” she highlights how ego trumps ethics, eroding trust and amplifying chaos. In FT Weekend style, Penn’s analysis blends cultural critique with hard numbers, making the case that Musk didn’t liberate speech; he commodified it for empire-building.

Veteran journalist King Larry, with his gravelly chuckle, broadens the lens to ownership structures, arguing we’ve traded “barons of print for barons of bytes.” Zuckerberg’s Meta empire, with its “Superman voting power” via Class B shares, allows him to “fire the board, rewrite the rules,” turning loneliness into a “profit centre.” Larry skewers the post-Cambridge Analytica apologies as window dressing, while election-denial content runs rampant until backlash hits. LinkedIn, Microsoft’s “quiet cash cow” since its $26 billion purchase in 2016, enforces “corporate orthodoxy” through algorithmic nudges: criticise layoffs or ESG theatre, and your visibility vanishes. Larry’s point is poignant; ownership isn’t just equity; it’s the power to shape discourse, costing us “mental bandwidth” in a compliant echo.

Juliette Brioche of Le Canard Enchainé injects Gallic flair, lighting a cigarette (theatrically, one imagines) to declare these platforms deliver “the surveillance of the Ancien Régime with better lighting.” Zuckerberg is a “boy-king” like “Louis XIV in a hoodie,” profiting from division. LinkedIn? A “panopticon for the bourgeoisie,” enforcing “conformity under the guise of professionalism.” Brioche’s revolutionary zeal – warning that concentrated power brews “mass log-offs”, echoes France’s historical scepticism of unchecked authority.

Finally, Annie Tusk from The Guardian underscores the “democratic deficit,” lamenting how platforms, sold as equalisers for the powerless, now serve as “private estates” for billionaires (mostly men). Zuckerberg’s opaque moderation bends to shareholders; LinkedIn’s “soft authoritarianism” punishes raw critique. Tusk calls for transparency, user data ownership, and decentralised alternatives, framing users as “tenants paying rent in attention and outrage.” Her progressive edge aligns perfectly with Guardian values, advocating not just critique but actionable reform.

What makes “Prometheus Unhinged” essential is its timeliness. In 2026, amid AI-deepfakes, election manipulations, and mental health crises fuelled by these platforms, the show doesn’t just diagnose the depravity – it humanises the fightback. The panel’s acerbic tone, from Rex’s “glittering authoritarianism” to Brioche’s “nervous sphincter” metaphors, cuts through the tech-bro sanctimony with humour and humanity. Sponsored by a diverse media alliance, it embodies the pluralism social media promised but failed to deliver.

This isn’t nihilism; it’s a clarion call. As Jones might say, recognising the amoral, depraved core of these networks is the first step to reclaiming our digital souls. Watch it, share it (ironically, on those very platforms), and perhaps log off for good. In a world of performative connectivity, “Prometheus Unhinged” reconnects us to what truly matters: genuine discourse, free from feudal chains.

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