display
Microsoft's President Brad Smith wants governments to regulate the big technology companies much more tightly.
This is necessary in order to preserve "the traditional economic basis for independent journalism" and thus the basis of the democracy threatened worldwide, said Smith in an interview with WELT AM SONNTAG.
In the current dispute between the Australian government and Facebook, Smith condemned the behavior of the digital company unusually harshly.
“It's a mistake.” A large company should never boycott a country if it is not about serious human rights violations.
Even the threat from the search engine company Google a few weeks ago to switch off its service in Australia due to a planned regulation law was a mistake.
This mistake caused Microsoft to contact Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and to stand behind his government.
This step ultimately led Google to give in.
Smith went on to say that Australia's example matters to the world.
The changes that are currently being observed there “will make democracies all over the world healthier”.
He is hopeful that the new US administration will find ways to remove the imbalance between search engines like Google and news publishers.
He also sees a good chance for the EU.
"After all, the starting point of the debate was in Europe," said Smith.
display
The full interview is from WELT AM SONNTAG. We will be happy to deliver them to your home on a regular basis.
Source: Welt am Sonntag