former Meta Global Affairs chief Nick Clegg said Friday that tech companies should stay away from politics and that people should feel “uneasy” about companies intervening in public places.
“I don’t think that in general, political and technological innovations are a very good mix,” Clegg told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “I think it’s really good that they keep each other in a certain, respectful way.”
This week, President Donald Trump’s contract with China to keep Tiktok alive in the US includes a massive dose of both elements, and closely monitors the balance of technology and political interests.
Clegg said two details need to be considered in particular in Tiktok. He said it was “very difficult” to share data security and algorithm ownership in America.
Clegg, who resigned from his role in Meta earlier this year, questioned whether US data was “keeping safe here and not subject to surveillance,” but also criticised other government efforts against data silos.
Clegg focused on recent legislative efforts to impose “hard data localization” that maintains all data on Indian citizens.
“The moment the country starts doing it, the dominoes start falling,” he said. “If everyone says, ‘No, we… want a slice of data cake.’ Then, of course, the open data flow that drives the Internet begins to erode. ”
Trump’s executive order against the new Tiktok structure will establish a mere joint company to oversee Tiktok’s US data and algorithms. Oracle CNBC’s David Faber reported that he controls cloud services and runs app security operations.
Neither China nor Tiktok’s parent company ordinance commented on Trump’s executive order on Thursday.
Clegg said he pointed out that the biggest risk to the internet is probably US-China relations, which could push other countries into different policies.
He said the image of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi standing next to Chinese President Xi Jinping during his recent visit was “impressive.”
“If India starts emulating China and tries to shut down India like China did from other parts of the Internet… I think that’s awful for the global open principles the Internet is based on,” Clegg said.
