German minister: Google is too powerful

Google is too powerful, the German minister of economic affairs. Therefore, it is time for action; in the extreme case, the company must even be split up, he thinks. Also, citizens have more control over their data.

In an essay that is primarily about privacy in the internet age, from the German minister of economic affairs, Sigmar Gabriel, are concerns about the dominant market position of Google. If it becomes clear that Google is indeed its competitiveness misused, must have a breakdown ‘seriously considered’, he writes in the Frankfurter Zeitung. “But that can only be a last resort”, he writes.

Competitors complain for a while that Google’s market position is abused, including through its own services in its search results and by customers to impede other advertentieproviders to use. Google said in February with the European Commission about those allegations. As a result, Google’s competitors more space to offer in its search results. In addition, Google will provide advertisers will no longer hinder for competitors to advertise.

Gabriel turns further against tax avoidance by tech multinationals. Also, there should be more attention to privacy, he says. Citizens should have the power over their digital technology to recover, if the minister is located. “Private data are personal property,” writes Gabriel. According to the minister, is the ‘digital autonomy’ has been lost.

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