Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg on Monday called on the EU to lead the way in regulating new technologies. He urged not to let countries like China set the standard for the world.
“At the moment, many other countries are looking at China and saying to themselves: ‘this model seems to be able to work’, it may give more control to our government …”, warned Mr. Zuckerberg, during an interview with the European Commissioner for the internal market, Thierry Breton, posted on the internet. “It is really dangerous and I am worried that this model will spread to other countries,” he warned.
“I think the best antidote would be to have a clear regulatory framework that would come from western democratic countries and become the standard around the world,” he added. He added that when Europe set up rules, these “often became standards all over the world”.
The American boss cited as an example the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), established by the EU on May 25, 2018, and which has since been recognized as a model in many countries. The RGDP provides enhanced rights for Internet users and requires any business, whether online or not, to ask for “explicit and positive consent” to use personal data collected or processed in the EU.
“You have to pay taxes”
For his part, Mr. Breton reminded Mr. Zuckerberg of the importance of the values governing the European continent. “If you understand the values on which this continent is built, then you understand how to behave,” said the Frenchman, who has taught in the United States in recent years.
The former French Minister of the Economy and ex-boss of the French group Atos thus reminded Mr. Zuckerberg of the importance of paying taxes. “I was a boss myself, you have to pay taxes where you have to pay them and not go to tax havens,” he said.
Mr Breton also stressed the importance of fair and equitable competition in the European internal market. “You have to be careful (…) Do not play the role of an ultra-dominant player” which would leave no room for small companies, he said. And to conclude: “Pay attention to democracy, anticipate, pay attention to disinformation”.
