Weimer calls for the dismantling of Google
Germany's Culture Minister Proposes Digital Tax and Antitrust Breakup of Google
Germany's Culture Minister, Wolfram Weimer, has announced plans to introduce a digital tax on the national level, modeled after Austria, as a means to ensure that big tech companies like Google pay fair taxes in Germany. Weimer has also called for the antitrust breakup of Google to reduce its monopoly power.
In an interview scheduled for tomorrow morning on the Berlin Playbook Podcast, Weimer expressed his concern about Google's impact on the media landscape and the democratic foundation of the country. He accused Google of threatening free opinion formation by absorbing local radio, television, and print media.
Weimer claimed that Google pays virtually no taxes in Germany and gives nothing back to society. He believes that the real competition is not between public broadcasters and private media companies, but with Google. To counter Google's influence, Weimer has called on public broadcasters to cooperate more intensively with private media companies.
The proposal for a European digital tax has been withdrawn temporarily, but Weimer believes that the European Union needs to make more progress in regulating Google. His comments come amidst US President Donald Trump's criticism of EU regulation of American tech companies. Trump has threatened to impose "substantial additional tariffs" on products from countries that go after US tech giants.
Weimer wants Google to be addressed in all its areas of action. He has expressed concern about European Union regulation regarding Google, and wants Google to be broken up on antitrust grounds. However, it is important to note that the digital tax has not yet been introduced in Germany.
In his efforts to go after Google more aggressively on tax issues, Weimer's proposals mark a significant step towards regulating the tech giant in Germany and the European Union. The impact of these proposals on the tech industry and the media landscape will be closely watched in the coming months.
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