MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. Big Tech’s dominance and influence on daily life in society has gained incredible strength lately and these IT giants are already competing with national governments in certain areas, thereby posing serious issues and downsides, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his speech during a live stream at the Davos Week event.
Modern technology, primarily IT and tech giants have started playing an ever-growing instrumental role in the life of society, the head of state noted.
"There is much talk about that now, especially in respect of events taking place during the election campaign in the [United] States," Putin noted. "They are not simply economic giants anymore - they actually compete with states in individual areas," he pointed out.
Current data shows that these Big Tech behemoths have billions of users "spending a significant portion of their lives within the framework of these ecosystems," the head of state highlighted. The monopoly position of such companies can be optimal to arrange technology and business process, Putin noted. "However, the question arises within society, as to what extent do such monopolies indeed conform to public interests?" he pondered.
"Where is the line between a successful global business, enjoying in-demand services, big data consolidation - and attempts to crudely and single-handedly control society, substitute legitimate democratic institutions and essentially usurp or limit one’s natural human rights to decide for themselves how to live, what to choose, and what position to be freely expressed?" the Russian leader pointed out.
"We have just seen all that in the [United] States. And everyone understands what I am talking about now," Putin specified.