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Big tech companies are currently facing a huge technology regulation that could substantially impact how they work in the public.
Governments across the globe are considering new laws that could put limits on how big tech companies can treat their smaller competitors and their use of artificial intelligence like facial recognition.
Some of these proposals could also potentially ban common company practices like boosting their own products in their rankings, which can lead to a huge operational impact.
Alongside this are regulators advancing dozens of investigations on competition and privacy issues against tech giants such as Facebook and Google.
According to regulators and executives, the orders or settlements that are under consideration could cut off trans-Atlantic data flows, kneecap some kinds of digital advertising, delay major product changes or force ongoing oversight of activities.
However, regulation has had little effect on Silicon Valley’s bottom line or valuations. The market value of five of the world’s largest tech companies is four times from what it was five years ago, nearly double the growth for the S&P 500 index in that time.
But the fresh wave of scrutiny against these companies could potentially change this, as it has made it more difficult for the companies to cash in on potential growth from acquisitions.
Tech companies are making changes in light of the recent attention on their conduct. Facebook has announced that it would shut down its facial-recognition system because of potential regulations.
Twitter’s global vice president for public policy Sinead McSweeney noted that the company has had to implement new legislative requirements in at least six countries in the recent weeks.
“There’s definitely a sense of there being a new momentum,” she said. “It’s on a whole new level.”
Meanwhile, Google has agreed to work closely with the Competition and Markets Authority on its plan to remove cookies, which track online activity, from Chrome.
The company’s executives are currently looking into building a new appeals process for content removals on YouTube, as well as rework its handling of user and partner information internally.
“There’s an awful lot on the table right now,” Google’s senior vice president of global affairs Kent Walker said. “It’s a challenging exercise because, in many cases, the compliance times are short, and we actually have to start to prepare now for rules before the ink is dried.”
While tech companies agree that their industry needs new regulation, they are pushing back against some specific proposals because of the impact they might have. Some executives are worried that the requirements in proposed online-content rules could chill free speech by encouraging companies to remove content they merely disagree with.
Google’s vice president is also concerned that the definition of an online marketplace in one bill could force the company to notify websites each time their ranking changed in the search engine, creating a virtually impossible task.
Meanwhile, advocates for more online regulation worry that the companies could emerge unscathed from the newest wave of regulation.
Founder and chief executive of DuckDuckGo Gabriel Weinberg said that the three EU antitrust decisions against Google and the over $US9bn in fines have done little to pare the search leader’s market position.
He is mainly concerned that policy makers are focused more on passing laws than on making sure regulators have the know-how and tools to properly implement new requirements to treat rivals equitably.
“I think something will get passed. I’m pretty hopeful it will,” he said. “But it looks like the devil is in the details of actually moving the market.”
However, policy makers say they are confident they can make it work. France’s Junior Minister for Digital Affairs Cédric O said that they must seize the momentum to pass effective regulation laws.
He will also be going to the U.S. to lobby for trans-Atlantic rules that will protect children who use social media, following articles in The Wall Street Journal’s Facebook Files series that found that Instagram made some teenage girls feel worse about themselves.
“I think there’s a European and probably international consensus that Big Tech has an impact on the economy and on democracy and should be regulated,” Minister O said. “There’s a desire to act that’s shared everywhere.”
Source: The Australian
Eliza Sayon is an experienced writer who specialises in corporate and government communications. She is the content producer for Public Spectrum, an online knowledge-based platform for and about the Australian public sector.
