6. Annex 1: DiEM25 Guiding Principles on Technology Policy
1. Technology serves humanity, not the other way around.
What does that mean?
Technological development is not a goal in itself. Technology exists to serve human progress. When technology harms humanity, it should be regulated, restricted, or even banned. And all aspects of humanity, such as welfare, health, ease of use, values, and social relationships of all humans have to be taken into account.
DiEM25 firmly supports human rights in the face of technology – humans, all humans, come first, and technology second.
2. Technology can be awesome.
What does that mean?
Technological development can be a formidable force for good. Technology is a key contributor to our civilisation’s ability to provide health, welfare, social interaction, freedom, safety and happiness. Technology allows for the increases in productivity enabling human progress.
DiEM25 firmly supports sound and positive technological development that benefits mankind, and rejects Luddite anti-technological thinking.
3. There is always a choice.
What does that mean?
Every technological development is the result of choices. Choices made by governments, investors, consumers, manufacturers, distributors and many others. No technology is god-given or invisible hand-given. No technology is unavoidable or un-opposable.
DiEM25 believes that, as a society, we have the duty to be aware of the fact that we make choices on technology. Choices on technical standards. On interoperability. On ownership and use of technology. On control and regulation of technology. Those choices, and the debate around them, must become visible to the public eye, and exposed on the public platform.
DiEM25 firmly supports democracy and rejects technocracy.
4. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
What does that mean?
Everything comes at a cost. Also technology. There are at least three inherent costs of technology. The first cost is that every technology requires initial investment. When that investment comes from the state or another collective body, it must be recognised and rewarded. The second cost is that, by selecting or benefitting one technology over another, someone always loses out. It is a hidden cost, paid by the beneficiaries of the technology we choose not to develop. The third is the cost related to creating and using a technology. From pollution to traffic victims, many people pay a heavy price for technology.
DiEM25 wants society to recognise the costs of technology to society, in addition to its benefits. Then, both costs and benefits need to be properly allocated and/or compensated.
5. Value is in sharing
What does that mean?
Technology is the result of value creation, and, in turn, enables the creation of more value. But value does not stand by itself. Value exists in relation to other things, and to people. Artificial boundaries that block or slow down the creative sharing of technology damage society. The more value and technology are shared, the more they can create value in return. By sharing technology and knowledge, society ensures that much more value is created than by “protecting” it.
DiEM25 firmly supports sharing technology, and rejects monopolies or rent seeking.
6. There is no natural distribution of the proceeds of technology
What does that mean?
The “invisible hand” is a dogma, and it does not actually exist. The proceeds of technology originate from the whole of society – no inventor is an island. Sharing the proceeds of technology across society is a matter of essential fairness. This is because non-regulated systems are structurally incapable of providing a fair and just distribution of the proceeds of technology. Therefore, we must establish rules on how the proceeds of technological process benefit all different parts of society. That is a quintessential democratic process: the clash of different interest groups must be done openly, through debate, with enforceable rules of engagement.
DiEM25 strongly believes that the decision on allocation of the proceeds of technological development must be openly and democratically discussed. DiEM25 firmly rejects the dogma of the invisible hand.
7. We stand on the shoulders of giants
What does that mean?
Technology does not fall from the sky. For tens of thousands of years, humans have made incremental progress in developing technology. It is the result of collaboration and co-operation between many. The knowledge handed down from our ancestors is absolutely necessary for us to build on it. And just like we borrowed that knowledge from our ancestors, we need to pass it on to the next generations.
DiEM25 rejects artificial boundaries around knowledge, and wants to ensure that continued progress remains possible through the sharing of both old and new knowledge.
8. No-Frankenstein-principle
What does that mean?
Our society is becoming ever more complex, as is our technology. 50 years ago, a well-trained engineer could understand, and repair, a lot of technology. That is no longer the case. With hyper-specialisation comes hyper-mutual dependency. Sometimes we don’t fully understand the technology we create. Therefore, the myth of the sole genius (e.g. Dr. Frankenstein) solving a fundamental problem in his (never, by the way, “her”) basement is no longer useful – quite the opposite. The ever-increased specialisation and complexity of technology makes it necessary for our society to open up as much information as possible about how things work – so we are able to understand what goes wrong when something goes wrong. As it inevitably will.
DiEM25 rejects the Frankenstein myth as a workable basis for developing and maintaining knowledge and innovation. An ever more complex and specialised society and technology demands as much open knowledge and communication as possible.
9. Technology reflects our values
What does that mean?
Technology is never value-free. The way we fund, adopt, use and regulate technology, or not, reflects society’s choice of its values and priorities. E.g. we currently accept that thousands of children are killed every year through society’s incoherent approach to the use of transportation technology. That is a reflection of our society’s priorities and values. We must be more aware of how choices around technology must be rooted in values, and openly discuss and decide on them in a democratic way. The agenda setting of the debate around technology and values should be open, and not set by the technology industry itself.
DiEM25 strongly supports open and healthy discussions on the values that are reflected through our choices around technology, and firmly rejects the notion of value-free technology. Negative values such as corruption, fraud or privilege are not acceptable, and technology may not be used to defend or strengthen them
10. Technology solves technical problems, not human ones
What does that mean?
Technological messianism is not the right approach. Technology is a tool that can help to solve technical problems. But it is humans who must direct how technology is used, and its purpose must be to solve human problems and the problems of all lifeforms that humans are responsible for. Justice, equality, fairness, or the lack thereof, will not be solved by technology alone. Without human and moral guidance, technology has as much opportunity to make problems worse as to make them better. Already, we see how prejudice and bias can be strengthened through technology, making technology part of the problem, rather than the solution. In the end, technology is and remains a tool. And we must choose how to use it.
DiEM25 believes that technology must be used as a tool to address problems of human society, and firmly rejects technological messianism.