Issues cannot be brushed under the carpet- Jaishankar on big tech firms

External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday called for a debate on the responsibility, accountability and influence wielded by big tech companies as “non-state players”, saying such issues cannot be brushed under the carpet. He made the comments while participating in a virtual conversation with former UK prime minister Tony Blair. The minister said there was a debate in different parts of the world on big tech, including a “very vigorous one in India”. While acknowledging technology and innovation as forces of progress that had opened new vistas, Jaishankar said there is also a need for democratic societies to debate the responsibility that comes along with the power wielded by big tech companies.

Jaishankar said, “In a democratic society, we have to ask ourselves...big tech is there, it’s very visibly in my life. You have a big presence [but] where is the responsibility which comes with it? They have huge power, where is the accountability?” He added, “This is again not an issue limited to India. They harvest our data as they do across the world. So you have, in a sense, the opposite of the American revolution, which is you have representation and no taxation.”

Blair, while responding to a question on big tech companies challenging democracy from the moderator of the conversation organised by India Global Forum, described such firms as “vast behemoths with enormous power”. He said many firms should now be seen as public interest companies since they have enormous impact on the lives of people, and there is a need for a regulatory framework within which they should operate. Blair said another key issue is the digital divide, as hundreds of millions of people don’t have access to technology. He also called for focus on the power of China in the technology sphere.