In this new Standard Time episode, we talk about Tech Giants, lack of regulation and what Europe can do about it.
The internet is arguably one of humanity’s greatest inventions – it’s right up there alongside the plough, toilets, democracy andThe Tomatan (a humanoid tomato-dispensing robot for runners designed to combat fatigue. Yes, we even got that one covered!)
Even though we have more information and connections at our fingertips than any human generation before us, it has blown up in our faces. Digitization has turned our world upside down, and believe it or not: it’s not all good.
The digitization permeates every sphere of our lives. It’s like a new industrial revolution in digital format, but quite like the old industrial revolution, capitalism has managed to put us on a leash.
When we talk about the downsides of digitization, Amazon often pops up. The largest e-commerce platform in the world that has managed to crush competition and gauge prices. And how did they succeed? Underpaying workers, of course!,Gruelling labour conditions andunion busting have seemingly become the tech giant’s modus operandi. Amazon’s increased volume of deliveries also brings with it a lot of extra pollution and waste. The company poses a lot of ethical, economical and ecological questions.
But Amazon is not alone. They are one of the five largest IT Companies dominating the world, together with Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Alphabet (the parent company of Google). Even if you haven’t heard about these giants, you’re using them.
You can also listen to the Standard Time talk show in a podcast format on the Cultural Broadcasting Archive – or wherever you get your podcasts.
So how did the internet evolve from independent hobby bloggers and self-help forums into today’s Big Tech madness?
The term Big Tech started circulating around the year 2013, wheneconomists warned that the lack of regulation could lead to a concentration of power in digital markets. In the aftermath of the 2007-2008 financial crisis, conventional business models were struggling, digital advertising and retail made a strike, colonizing these fields among an upcoming generation – millennials.
Clearly, Big Tech amassed a lot of power. And the real question is: WHO holds that power?
Okay, Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t single-handedly hold digitization in his hands, but he is the 4th richest man on earth, Co-Founder of Facebook and Meta Platforms, including Instagram and WhatsApp. He is definitely one of the key players in this game. Other people you might want to keep track of are Tim Cook for Apple, Satya Nadella for Microsoft, Sundar Pichai for Alphabet, and Andy Jassy for Amazon.
The current Big Tech reign works with business models based on hijacking your attention, creating dependencies and selling your data to advertisers.
But attention is not really a currency, now, is it? There is one simple truth for Big tech companies when it comes to our attention: It’ll never be enough!
So how to regulate the tech giant’s power? The US has long been reluctant to thoroughly regulate digital business. Back in the 90s, this attitude was meant to encourage a new industry to grow. Today it’s a crippling shortfall.
The EU, however, is a sucker for regulation and leads the way in customer protections, data and security regulations, and is now hoping to intervene in the field of digital politics even deeper in their new cycle.
So this time we went to Brussels to sit down with the people who shape these policies – in the European Parliament’s own studio.
Guests
Alice Stollmeyer is the Founder and Executive Director ofDefend Democracy. A former policy adviser and digital strategist, she now works on democracy, technology and sharp power, also known as hybrid threats.
Christian Ehler is a German politician who has been serving as aMember of the European Parliament since 2004 representing the European People’s Party. Since 2022, he has been chairing the parliament’s Panel for the Future of Science and Technology, called STOA. He doesn’t seem to be stoic about Big Tech, though, and he’s the one who invited us to the Parliament in the first place.
Karen Melchior is a Danish politician and an outgoing member of the European Parliament 2019-2024. She has served as part ofRenew Europe, the third-largestpolitical group in the European Parliament.
Creative team
Réka Kinga Papp anchor
Daniela Univazo writer-editor
Merve Akyel art director, Eurozine
Szilvia Pintér producer
Priyanka Hutschenreiter project manager
Julia Sobota captions and translations
Zsófia Gabriella Papp digital producer
This talk show is a Display Europe production: a ground-breaking media platform anchored in public values.
This programme is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union and the European Cultural Foundation.
Importantly, the views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors and speakers only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the EACEA can be held responsible for them.
After over 20 years of publishing for free, Eurozine needs your support to get through an exceptionally lean year.
Become a Patron and get exciting perks for your help!
Want to hear a human voice? Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Syria’s reinvigorated civil society must assert itself not just in negotiations with the new government, but also in its dealings with Europe. Neo-colonial assumptions regarding minorities and gender are a source of tension that Europe would do well to reflect on.
Why does peace in Ukraine hang on a ‘mineral deal’ whose handling is more reminiscent of trade than negotiations? Perhaps because the global race for critical raw material mining is well and truly underway, digging for today’s equivalent of gold: raw earth elements and lithium critical for renewables and digital technology but also modern weaponry.