Kara Swisher is a figure of the Silicon Valley. She has participated in the Web Summit in Lisbon, which took place between 6 and 9 November. This old Wall Street Journal, in 2014, a co-founder of Recode, a website respected on the digital economy (group Vox Media). She describes herself on Twitter as ” lady râleuse of the tech “. The influential journalist intends to be a candidate for mayor of San Francisco in 2023.
The survey on the use of Facebook or Google by the Russians change the image of these companies in the United States ?
Yes. For the first time, they are the persons most valued in the room. The recent Congressional hearings show the side less positive for firms in Silicon Valley. We are in a particular moment : for people to understand the impact these platforms can have. The Facebook, Google, Amazon or Twitter still believe that their platforms are benign, neutral, and that they act for the good. But their leaders have become rich and powerful. They still do not understand this responsibility, and sometimes behave like teenagers.
The election of Donald Trump darkens the political horizon of these companies ?
Yes. Even if Trump is going to perhaps give them what they wanted : the right to repatriate to the United States the money earned in Europe. Paradoxically, this president could further help the technology industry that Barack Obama, his predecessor. However, in public, Trump takes it to Amazon, accused of destroying jobs – or the newspaper owned by its founder, the Washington Post. He also criticized Facebook, although the social network account in its board of directors, Peter Thiel, one of the supports of the chair. Trump plays on certain fears of how a populist. Even if there is a fear that the robots will kill some jobs. I visited an automated warehouse…
