Department of National Defence Big Tech Procurement Contracts: Lobbying Power, Platform Imperialism, and the Cross-Border Military-Industrial-Communications Complex

Background: The power of Big Tech is of interest to studies in Canadian communication policy, but its links with the Canadian military remain underexplored. This article opens new space for research on lobbying and military procurement contracting by Big Tech in Canada.

Analysis: Drawing on a case study for the Tech Lobby Project, this article examines how Big Tech companies in the United States secure procurement contracts with Canada’s Department of National Defence (DND), probing the power relations established and reproduced as a consequence.

Conclusions and implications: Procurement contracts between the DND and Big Tech solidify a cross-border U.S.-centred military-industrial-communications complex (MICC), expanding the asymmetrical power relations of U.S.-centred lobbying, platform imperialism, and platform dependency, thereby challenging Canada’s digital sovereignty.