As of September 30th, Uber’s license to operate in London has come to an end. The Transport for London (TfL) described the company’s ‘lack of corporate responsibility’ as the reason to why their license will not be renewed (Doward, Obordo & Siddiqui, 2017). Since the announcement more than 850000 Londoners have signed a petition calling for this decision to be overturned (change.org, 2017).
The ban comes after growing concerns regarding driver and passenger safety on Uber rides. Uber has reportedly failed to disclose allegations of assault on its drivers to the police and there was a 50% rise in sexual offences where Uber was mentioned. Besides safety issues there has been disagreements on whether Uber drivers are self-employed or normal employees. Uber has also been put on a list of companies that label their workforce as self-employed but have similar rights and responsibilities of full time workers, meaning these workers are entitled to employee benefits they are not receiving. These are just some of the practices regarded as instances of an aggressive corporate culture worrying regulators in the UK.
The Uber app is still controversial in many parts of the world. There is a number of countries where the service has been suspended or completely banned. This also coupled with court cases pending in courtrooms worldwide (Rhodes, 2017). But discontent from regulators appears to be an increasing phenomenon, not only for Uber but also for other giants such as Google, Facebook and Amazon. While the usual concerns about the size of these companies and their lack of competition are intensifying, the pressure for regulation comes mainly from the potential influence they exert on politics. The lacking transparency of online advertising on the dominant information platforms, Google and Facebook is one particular source of concern.
Since the 2016 election and the allegations of possible Russian influence of these information platforms on the public opinion, both parties in Congress has been pushing to further regulate technology companies. Paid advertisements on Facebook on Google are particularly concerning to them parties because unlike advertisements via traditional channels, there is no registration of who has bought political ads and how much has been paid for them (Jacobs, 2017). Because the dominant firms control most of the information on the internet, democracy and free speech may be negatively affected according to tech platform skeptics.
Personally, I think a global debate on the regulation of these tech platforms should indeed be initiated. With the tremendous growth they are experiencing we need make sure there is no room for abuse of power. At the same time hasty actions like the London decision on Uber will do more harm than good. Clearer playing rules should be put in place with financial penalties in case of violation. We should not forget the value of these platforms for its users and the general economy. What are your thoughts on this issue?
Change.org (2017). Save your Uber in London. Retrieved from https://www.change.org/p/save-your-uber-in-london-saveyouruber [Accessed 9 October 2017]
Doward, J., Obordo, R. and Siddiqui, S. (2017). Why Uber’s fate could herald backlash against ‘digital disruptors’. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/23/uber-transport-for-london-tfl-drivers-hardship-sadiq-khan-supports banutm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H+categories&utm_term=245051&subid=17267226&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2 [Accessed 9 October 2017]
Jacobs, B. (2017). DC eyes tighter regulations on Facebook and Google as concern grows. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/17/dc-eyes-tighter-regulations-on-facebook-and-google-as-concern-grows [Accessed 9 October 2017]
Rhodes, A. (2017). These are all the places in the world that have banned Uber. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/uber-ban-countries-where-world-taxi-app-europe-taxi-us-states-china-asia-legal-a7707436.html [Accessed 9 October 2017]
Picture from https://www.123rf.com/stock-photo/economic_sanctions.html
