Minister for Digital Affairs Caroline Stage Olsen Stage mentioned Google’s blocking of news experiment and that tech prioritise profit over citizen wellbeing. We are vulnerable when we are dependent on big tech, so digital competitiveness will be a priority during the Danish EU presidency.
Minister for Business Morten Bødskov stressed that we need to fence in the tech giants. Regulation is important and creating alternatives. The Danish government’s efforts and the tech expert group’s work on three reports mean that the government is well prepared to offer solutions when Denmark takes over the EU Presidency.
Minister for European Affairs Marie Bjerre stressed that EU faces challenges with the tech giant, so we must stand together to have the greatest effect. The minister is pleased to see that the Commission is opening proceedings against, among others, TikTok and Meta. The European competitiveness is under pressure. Enforcement and innovation based on our European values must be prioritised.
Chairman of the government’s expert group on tech giants Professor Mikkel Flyverbom highlighted that we are dealing with borderless technology and borderless companies: economically, because effective competition is disrupted by the tech giants; democratically, because the tech giants do not follow the European rules; and security-wise, because the tech giants play a geopolitical role and can influence elections and control information flows.
The tech giants require special handling. And that is why the expert group has launched seven principles: https://www.digmin.dk/digitalisering/nyheder/nyhedsarkiv/2024/dec/regeringens-ekspertgruppe-praesenterer-ny-rapport-om-tech-giganter-og-digital-infrastruktur