BigTech’s Role in Shaping Government Policy

“The challenges we face demand an unprecedented alliance between business  and government.”

-Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on the COVID-19 crisis.

The pandemic ushered in increased anxiety among citizens across the world. Even as  governments struggled to find solutions to pandemic-induced problems, tech giants  emerged as compelling providers of resources and information. BigTech companies also  aided in better detection of community spread of the virus. The pandemic brought to the  fore the limitations of government responses to a crisis and its struggle to provide critical  services and empower communities.

Today, BigTech platforms have positioned themselves as powerful global actors. Tech  companies are now gaining greater leverage by showcasing themselves in roles usually  occupied by governments. When governments were grappling with the havoc of  unemployment claims wreaked by the pandemic, BigTech presented itself as the solution.

The devastating consequences of the virus outbreak overwhelmed the resources of  administrations across the world. The COVID-19 crisis led to a sudden and major shift to telemedicine and virtual learning. Though public health and telemedicine are usually  considered the government’s statutory function, Big Tech shared the responsibility, as  alluded to by Satya Nadella who said, “We at Microsoft view ourselves as digital first  responders.”

Amazon and Google stepped in to provide critical infrastructure for the pandemic.  AmazonFresh enabled customers to avoid physically going to the supermarkets. In April  2020, Google and Apple made it clear that they would pause their long-held rivalry and  work with nations to create a new contact tracing infrastructure. They reconfigured their  mobile operating systems to let users know if they are in the vicinity of a device held by a  COVID-19 patient.

In particular, Big Tech made its influence clear in three key areas.

1. Stopping misinformation

Content platforms reinforced their role as information mediators by combating spread of misinformation.  Apart from banning ads that discouraged vaccination, Facebook also started using artificial intelligence to  alert people who interacted with ‘misinformation’ and detect hateful memes. The company also donated

$2M to local newsrooms and fact-checkers covering the virus outbreak. Apple for its part removed  COVID-19 related apps that were not from official health organisations. These platforms also aided information verification by authentic sources. Google Maps started a colour-coded system to identify areas  hit by the virus and it showcases government-run food and night shelters in Indian cities. Both Google and  Facebook funded initiatives to enable fact-checkers fight pandemic misinformation.

2. Helping in pandemic response

Big Tech platforms have responded to the pandemic by providing data commons and analytical  capabilities, aiding research by sharing these resources. Facebook started sharing location data with  COVID-19 researchers and urges users to self-report if symptoms arise. It also made its visualisations  and datasets public to help researchers. While Apple and Google joined hands for COVID-19 contact  tracing technology, AWS opened its COVID-19 data lake to external researchers. Facebook also joined  hands with Amazon, Hewlett Packard, IBM and Microsoft in signing the open COVID-19 patent pledge to  make patents available for free.

3. Stimulating a robust economic ecosystem

BigTech also left its mark in stimulating economic activity. Apple Music started a $50M COVID-19 advance  fund for Indie labels. Facebook announced an additional $100 M investment to support the news industry.  Google started providing around $300M as Google Ads credit for small and medium businesses. These  efforts revive the economy by primarily activating their existing ecosystems. Alibaba’s TMall has launched  a super consumer growth accelerator programme to help brands and has also been fuelling innovation for  beauty brands in the wake of the outbreak. Alibaba’s Fliggy rolled out measures to help travel and  hospitality industries while Taobao has extended free advanced settlements that allow merchants to  receive payments as soon as orders are fulfilled.