Burda CEO Kallen: Foreign Tech Giants Dictate Rules in Europe
“Either we treat Whatsapp as a telecommunications facility and prescribe Facebook like Deutsche Telekom that the data must be deleted every 90 days. We have to enforce our law and thus our values against the tech giants. We need to establish rules in Europe and enact laws that correspond to our values and that apply not only to all resident companies, but also to non-European companies that serve European customers. We protect citizens in Germany very efficiently from German companies, but not at all from non-European companies. This is an act of self-flagellation that I do not understand. This leaves Europe dependent on foreign companies for digital infrastructure.”
– Burda CEO Paul-Bernhard Kallen in “We need a concerted effort”, (Kallen criticizes that US tech companies dictate the rules of the game. He advocates for the establishment of our own digital infrastructure and demands that Europe enforce its own rights and values), Handelsblatt, August 3, 2020, No. 147