GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th January, 2021) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday called on big tech companies and online platforms to take responsibility for how they promote, remove and share content.
"We want internet companies to take responsibility for the manner in which they disseminate, promote and remove content," von der Leyen said during her address at the Davos World Economic Forum 2021.
The commission president added that "the immense power" of digital giants needs to be contained and called for more transparency online.
"We need to contain the immense power of the big digital companies ... This means that what is illegal offline, should be illegal online too. We want the platforms to be transparent about how their algorithms work. Because we cannot accept that the decision that have a far-reaching effect on our democracy are taken by computer programs alone," von der Leyen said.
The issues of digital privacy and the role of big tech in freedom of expression have shifted to the center of public attention after Twitter and other social media platforms blocked accounts of former US President Donald Trump in response to January 6 Capitol riots and in light of WhatsApp's move to force users to agree to privacy rules that envision sharing of their personal data with Facebook.
The Davos forum started on Monday and will be held through Friday in virtual format. The participants plan to discuss the transformation of industries, technology development, global cooperation and climate change, among other issues.
