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There is nothing wrong with big tech

by on11 February 2021


It just needs guidelines, says Nadella

King of the Volehill, Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella, has been telling the world+dog that there is nothing wrong with Big Tech - all it needs is clearer laws and rules.

Nadella said in a chat with Bloomberg Television's Emily Chang that social media services like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube need clearer laws and rules to govern whether controversial accounts, like former US President Donald Trump's, have a place on their services, rather than being asked to make free speech decisions themselves.

"Unilateral action by individual companies in democracies like ours is just not long-term stable -- we do need to be able to have a framework of laws and norms. Depending on any one individual CEO in any one of these companies to make calls that are going to really help us maintain something as sacred and as important as our democracy in the long run is just no way that at least I, as a citizen, would advocate."

He said that it was better for the younger technology companies to face robust competition and handle negative consequences of growing too big ahead of time, rather than waiting until their size leads to problems for consumers and rivals.

"Big by itself is not bad, but competition is good… you need to have a business model that really is aligned with the world doing well. There are certain categories of products where the unintended consequences of the growth on that category or lack of competition creates issues."

He said that need for competition includes rivalry from China, Nadella said, although national security concerns must be reckoned with by each government.

"There is no God-given right for US tech companies to take for granted that there cannot be other tech powers. All of us in the West Coast of the United States need to be more grounded, because sometimes I think we celebrate our own advances far too much." Instead, companies should look at what's happening in the world and how relevant their technology is.

Last modified on 11 February 2021
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