Óscar López: “The extreme right plays strongly on social networks. We have to move quickly and regulate them”
The speakers at the table on technology and AI at the Global Progressive Mobilization summit in Barcelona have highlighted that social networks, and the internet in general, concentrate a good part of the political discourse in modern societies. Óscar López, Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Service, has stressed that talking about technology today is talking about politics, and has given the Romanian elections as an example, which had to be repeated due to Russian interference. “It is often said that regulation goes against competitiveness, but it is not true,” he assured, and quoted the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, when speaking about the key points of this regulation: “Accountability, transparency of algorithms and protection of children.”
“We can’t just sit back and watch,” he insisted. “The extreme right plays hard on social networks and promotes ideas that we thought were outdated. They speak against feminism, question the reality of climate change, create campaigns against social justice. We have to move quickly and regularly.”
Previously, upon his arrival at the venue that hosts the progressive summit, López had undermined the criticism of the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, about Global Progressive Mobilization: “We all know that Ayuso is the geopolitical beacon of the West,
and that she likes ultra summits more like the ones she does with Milei,” she ironized, in statements to the media collected by the Efe Agency. The Madrid president had accused the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, of meeting with “narco-states”. For López, a “falcon and xenophobic message” towards Latin American countries. “Messages like today’s disqualify her. I certainly hope that all Latin Americans who live in Madrid take note,” he added.
