Editorial: Bye Bye Google
Imagine this:
You’ve invited that famous, super-rich bloke from the neighbourhood round for a coffee. He barges in, shamelessly clears out your fridge and then sh*ts all over your bathroom, occupies your living room, plugging in a massive, energy-guzzling games console – in the process ‘accidentally’ destroying your 200-year-old bonsai tree, the hamster maze incl the hamster, and a vase, priceless because it’s your only family heirloom – before sprawling out on the sofa as if the owns the whole flat now.
When your protests are futile and you finally call the police, it turns out they don’t have any applicable law to kick him out or arrest him. All he gets is a stern warning and a fine for damage to property, which he easily covers from his pocket money. But no amount of money in the world can replace your beloved hamster, the 200-year-old bonsai or your great-great-great-grandmother’s heirloom … What’s more, he remains a ‘house guest’ at your expense, gradually destroying your entire flat, whilst YOU also have to foot the bill for the skyrocketing electricity and repair costs…
Well, replace ‘flat’ with ‘Finland’ and ‘filthy-rich neighbour’ with ‘Google’ – that’s exactly what actually happened recently – the clip illustrates what they did to the environment, and WITHOUT PERMIT:
Moreover, Google has done it before, they destroyed much more of the approved woodland for a data center in Hamina a few years back, bulldozing a PROTECTED AREA, a habitat hosting RARE SQUIRRELS. Unfortunately this environmental crime never received the punishment they deserved!! And because of such incomprehensible ‘leniency’ on the part of politicians and the authorities, the residents around Muhos, Finland, have to deal with the consequences. At the same time, this might be a very clear warning to all the other EU nations – u better make no deals with those “tech bros”!
Are our lawmakers REALLY that powerless, or are they simply reluctant to act – for whatever reason?? How about, for instance, banning Google from building any more AI centres (there are plans for as many as 120 in Finland alone!!), and ordering them to carry out extensive reforestation, pay compensation to local residents, donate billions to nature conservation organisations, and so on? Or to use alternatives to Google services, across the entire EU, from the private sector to public administration?
If you’re just as horrified and outraged as I am, here’s the good news: We can all simply do the latter right away – that is, remove Google* from our online lives. Everything related to Google for the magazine – such as adverts, tags, etc. – has already been deleted; Startpage instead of Chrome or HereWeGo instead of Maps works like a charm. There are other European alternatives, too – here are a few tips, by no means an exhaustive list:
After all, recent developments have once again illuminated which consequences an excessive reliance on US technology monopolies for us in Europe could have – e.g. data espionage …
If Google were now actually to experience a mass exodus on a global scale and, as a result, a permanent, massive slump in their market shares – that would be the punishment they definitely deserve!
*maybe ditching everything Meta and Microsoft as well, wherever possible!
