Maajid Nawaz scrutinises morals of tech industry amid Apple slavery row
28 November 2020, 15:21
Maajid Nawaz's interrogation of tech giants' business ethics
After reports that Apple are lobbying against an anti-slave labour bill, Maajid Nawaz urged the public remain skeptical.
Maajid Nawaz was speaking about the ethics of tech giants following Netflix's decision to declare around £1 billion to HMRC. He argued that these companies are becoming too large to have any real competition.
"How is it that we're in a lockdown and the most reliable way to get food is through Deliveroo," he wondered.
"You've no competition against Amazon that is meaningful, there's no competition against Deliveroo that is meaningful, there's no competition against Google, really."
He went on: "If you try and start that competition will be gobbled up or destroyed."
He moved to the point that these giants have "lost their morals," following news reports that "Apple is lobbying against a bill aimed at stopping forced labour in China."
"The problem here is, I have an iPhone," Maajid noted. "The problem here isn't to boycott something that frankly, every smartphone is complicit in at the moment."
He called on listeners to use their voices to interrogate Apple's decisions: "Why are you using your immense wealth and power to lobby against a bill to prohibit slave labour against a community that is being genocided in China?"
"Never stop asking questions," he urged listeners.
"If now is not the time to ask these questions about big tech and how AI technology and other smart technology is being used by an authoritarian police state in China...then when is the time to ask these questions?"
