I agree that preventing tyranny is not primarily a technological problem. But the abuse of power is not unrelated to how easy it is to abuse either. Technology

I agree that preventing tyranny is not primarily a technological problem. But the abuse of power is not unrelated to how easy it is to abuse either. Technology can make it more difficult to abuse power, more difficult to hide any abuse and hence it makes any checks and balances more effective. Also, I think we haven't seen all forms of tyranny yet. It is very difficult for a democratically elected government not to enforce something popular they are technically capable of enforcing. Even if there is rule of law and checks and balances there is also a tendency toward ever more detailed control and even prediction of individual behaviour. I fear that the erosion of individual freedoms is possible even in perfectly good democratic societies if there are no technological barriers to that collective power grab. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" remains true even if that power is legitimate. And my last point is that breaking the law is necessary for the advancement of the law and our societies. Law is not something that falls from the sky or magically emerges from the moral conscience of wise men and women. It is often the result of conflict. If you give too much power to the enforcers of current law that conflict could become too unequal for society to advance and avoid tyranny.