Don’t leave digital autonomy to Big Tech
In the media image: Growtika on Unsplash
Reijer Passchier, Assistant Professor of Constitutional Law and Professor of Digitalisation and the Democratic Rule of Law (OU), responds sharply in investigative journalism platform ‘Follow The Money’ to recent decisions about the division of roles in the Dutch strategy on digitalisation.
The Dutch Ministry of the Interior has recently given responsibility for digital autonomy to NL‑digital, a sector organisation that includes many large suppliers such as Microsoft, Google and IBM. Dutch cloud providers were not involved at all in this first step. Critics fear that the interests of the big American tech companies will start to shape the agenda, even in policies meant to reduce dependence on those very same companies.
Passchier says: ‘Big Tech's lobby is immense and reaches deep into our public institutions. You can’t leave digital autonomy to Big Tech. It’s like letting the tobacco lobby help write anti‑smoking laws.’
With digital sovereignty high on the political agenda, the question is whether the Dutch government can achieve its own goals if it lets the direction be set by the very companies it wants to rely on less.