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Thread: Big Tech attempt to take down EU leadership likely to backfire. More important, underscores how Europe is shaping global data rules. https://www.ft.com/content/5528eab4-ac19-40c0-893a-9b86ccd091f6
2/Leaked documents show that Google planned to attack/undermine the legitimacy of EU Commissioner Thierry Breton in order to weaken the Digital Services Act. https://www.ft.com/content/5528eab4-ac19-40c0-893a-9b86ccd091f6
3/In addition to very Thank You For Smoking types of political hit, it signals the risks associated with the Digital Services Act for Big Tech. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427944/
4/In particular, the Digital Services Act will require Big Tech to open up its internal workings to competitors, which has caused a stir in Silicon Valley. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/05/digital-services-act-how-the-eu-is-going-after-big-tech.html
5/This all matters because the EU has a very different view of how digital society should evolve. One that I characterize as a digital double movement, where consumer protection goes hand in hand with market development. https://www.dropbox.com/s/6v4vx35ft7z3wct/wallace_9780198807605_12_pean.docx?dl=0
6/And because of its regulatory capacity and large market, the EU approach will likely have global consequences. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13501760701497659
7/Because Big Tech cannot directly shape EU government policy, they have to rely on lobbying and influencing campaigns. Something that they have done many times in the past. https://shorttermrentalz.com/news/google-lobbying-digital-services/
8/This however can backfire. When Big Tech tried this strategy with European data privacy rules, it raised the salience of the issue and even undermined domestic European firm efforts to water down the GDPR. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jcms.12810
9/Importantly, many European perspectives are starting to creep into US policy debates. https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/what-can-america-learn-from-europe-about-regulating-big-tech
10/As Breton concludes: “This is an old-century matter: pushing back a regulator, saying that we need to mobilise the US government, saying that [the new rules] could destroy the transatlantic alliance. . . not really.” https://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/google-apologises-to-thierry-breton-over-plan-to-target-eu-commissioner-1.4408606
11/Instead, Big Tech needs to collaborate w/ EU officials to rethink social protection for a digital age so new markets are sustainable and deliver broad societal benefits. Without that, industry could face a wider backlash and dimmer prospects. https://www.dropbox.com/s/vik4c6r4fzgb46v/DIGITAL%20DOUBLE%20MOVEMENT_final.pdf?dl=0
