Tuesday

5th Dec 2023

Stakeholder

Podcast: 'Big Tech' and the threat to democracy

Do tech giants like Google, Apple or Facebook have too much power? How big a threat to democracy is their growing influence? These topics are highlighted in the latest Nordic Talks podcast, featuring three specialists, among them EU commissioner Margrethe Vestager.

The tech giants gather enormous amounts of information about us, which is often sold and distributed for commercial purposes. And their platforms are used by hate campaigns and for sharing disinformation in a way that many people believe is putting severe pressure on democracy as we know it.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • You can listen to the newest Nordic Talk podcast Big Tech's threat to democracy at www.nordictalks.com (Photo: Nordic Talks)

The Nordic countries know all too well about the power struggle of our digital age. This region is the most digitalised in the world and has some of the longest-running traditions of democracy.

In this episode of the Nordic talk series we meet Margrethe Vestager, the Danish EU commissioner for competition policy, Hanne Aho, president of the Union of Journalists in Finland, and Shoshana Zuboff, author and Charles Edward Wilson professor emeritus at Harvard Business School.

In the podcast they talk about three major questions: What does the power held by big tech mean for a democratic society, what should be the responsibilities for digital gate keepers and do common people have any power to influence these giants?

"Right now, in particular because of big tech, we are being more and more polarised", says Vestager - internationally known for fighting with the big tech giants in her role as EU commissioner.

Shoshana Zuboff, author of the bestselling book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, says: "What we are witnessing is what I'm calling an epistemic coup, that means a revolution in the ownership and concentration of knowledge".

You can listen to the newest Nordic Talk podcast, Big Tech's Threat to Democracy here or your preferred podcast service here.

The podcast is part of the Nordic Council of Ministers' concept Nordic Talks, a podcast series in which some of the brightest Nordic minds discuss global challenges with people from around the world. The Nordic Talks project is part of the strategy for international branding of the Nordic Region.

The Nordic Council of Ministers and the Nordic Council are the main forums for official Nordic cooperation, which involves Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland.

Read about the Nordic Council of Ministers Vision 2030 here and here.

Author bio

Tobias Grut is a project manager for branding at the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Nordic Council.

Disclaimer

This article is sponsored by a third party. All opinions in this article reflect the views of the author and not of EUobserver.

ECJ to clarify power of Belgian watchdog on Facebook cookies

The European Court of Justice is due to decide whether the Belgian data protection watchdog can pursue legal action against Facebook - after the social media network was found guilty of breaching Belgian privacy legislation some five years ago.

Opinion

Google, Fitbit, and a big decision for EU Commission

In the coming days the European Commission seems poised to green-light the acquisition of Fitbit by Google. The deal is a major threat to human rights and must be stopped in its tracks.

Portuguese presidency to focus on social rights and India

Social policies and the relationship between the EU and India will be at the heart of the next Portuguese EU presidency agenda, according to Portugal's secretary of state for European affairs Ana Paula Zacarias.

Podcasts: Nordic voices on the green transition

How close are we to battery-powered planes? What effect has Greta Thunberg had on the attitudes of her fellow Swedes? Is small-scale farming the future? These are some of the questions up for discussion in a new podcast series.

Big tech's EU lobby spending revealed, as key acts loom

The digital industry now has more lobbying power than pharmaceutical, fossil fuels, financial, or chemical sectors — spending annually over €97m to influence EU decision-making, according to a new report.

Latest News

  1. EU nears deal to fingerprint six year-old asylum seekers
  2. Orbán's Ukraine-veto threat escalates ahead of EU summit
  3. Can Green Deal survive the 2024 European election?
  4. Protecting workers' rights throughout the AI revolution
  5. Russia, the West, and the geopolitical 'touch-move rule'
  6. Afghanistan is a 'forever emergency,' says UN head
  7. EU public procurement reform 'ineffective', find auditors
  8. COP28 warned over-relying on carbon capture costs €27 trillion

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us