Media Debate on Tech and #COVID19

Before the pandemic, technology was already transforming every aspect of our lives. Now it’s taking on a whole new dimension, given its all-encompassing role during the crisis and beyond into the recovery. Technology has enabled the switch to remote working as well as providing medical supplies, entertainment, solace and sustenance during confinement. But it’s not an entirely positive story. As the GDPR turned two in May, suggestions abounded that the EU’s ground-breaking regulation aimed at safeguarding citizens’ privacy hampered efforts to track and contain the virus. Equally, bogus claims about the role of 5G in spreading COVID-19 led to the burning of towers and attacks on workers. In addition, the dominance of big tech came more into focus, with talk of a digital tax revived as one way of helping finance the EU’s recovery fund along with suggestions of renewed antitrust scrutiny, particularly into providers of essential services.