Meta published a blog post rejecting criticism leveled against it by some politicians and regulators in Europe and the United States, who would like make big tech companies pay a network tax to help finance the development of broadband internet infrastructure. According to Mark Zuckerberg’s company, companies like Meta already spend enough on research and development.
For Meta, big tech companies shouldn’t have to pay for internet
The company claims the internet tax proposals are based on a false premise. Because they ignore the value that i content and application providers (CAPs) such as Meta bring to the digital ecosystemboth in terms of innovation and investment.
Meta claims to have invested 100 billion dollars in Internet infrastructure over the last ten years. Including “billions in Europe”, and that CAPs as a whole have invested over $880 billion in the same period.
Furthermore, Meta claims that its presence in the market stimulates the demand for Internet services by consumers and businesses. Thus creating incentives for network operators to improve the quality and coverage of broadband.
“Every year, Meta invests tens of billions of euros in our apps and platforms – like Facebook, Instagram and Quest – to facilitate the hosting of content. Billions of people go online every day to access this content, creating demand that allows telecom operators to charge people for Internet access. Our investment in content literally drives the revenue and business model of telecom operators.”
In Meta’s analysis they look like not to have the billions of infrastructure investment on internet networks made by states and organizations. Which are necessary for Meta’s business. The matter seems more complicated than how the company puts it – we will keep you updated on the development of this story.