Big Tech companies pocket the profits and the government foots the bill
Tech giants are pocketing the profits and municipalities and the government are being left with social and financial burdens. In ‘Binnenlands Bestuur’, Reijer Passchier sounds the alarm about this imbalance.
The impact of Big Tech on our daily lives is unprecedented, but the costs of this digital dominance are being passed on to the government and municipalities. According to Passchier, Professor of Digitalisation and the Democratic Rule of Law at the OU and Associate Professor of Constitutional Law, Big Tech companies are using public infrastructure, data and services without contributing to the costs. ‘The profits are privatised, but the consequences are public.’ The professor argues that we ourselves have allowed this to escalate and he puts it down to globalisation and digitalisation.
Passchier has little faith in the regulation of Big Tech. ‘You increase the power of Big Tech companies because with rules you also make it harder for potential competitors and the smaller players in the market.’ These smaller players cannot afford to risk fines, hire top lawyers, move countries or turn their backs on the EU. Passchier sees the benefits of social media, but these platforms do not represent the interests of citizens. Social media platforms are created with a specific profit motive and designed in such a way to keep users on the platforms for as long as possible, by inundating them with (dis)information.
Passchier argues for a systemic change, in which Big Tech, when they prove unreliable, should be kept out of Europe and European companies that ‘do’ safeguard the rule of law should be given a chance.
Passchier proposes a systemic change, in which Big Tech companies, when they prove unreliable, should be barred from Europe and European companies that do safeguard the rule of law should be given a chance.