Eire has turn into Fb’s “laundrette for the largest tax avoidance scheme on the planet,” businessman Denis O’Brien has claimed.
The connection between Eire and Fb, which the social media firm makes use of at its European headquarters, was a “blot” on the nation’s repute, Mr O’Brien stated.
He made the feedback in regards to the social media agency at Cambridge College, throughout an annual lecture in reminiscence of late Fianna Fáil minister for finance Brian Lenihan, who was a graduate of the college, and who died in 2011.
In a collection of crucial remarks Mr O’Brien stated democracy was “below menace” from Fb, which he claimed was “permitting its platform to facilitate anarchy”.
“Eire is a pivotal accomplice of Fb due to its tax legal guidelines and regrettably is complicit with the egregious practices Fb operates below,” he stated.
Mr O’Brien owns Caribbean cell phone community Digicel, and was majority shareholder in Communicorp, a radio group that included stations At this time FM and Newstalk, which was offered to UK-based Bauer Media Audio earlier this yr.
He additionally beforehand held a big stake in Impartial New & Media, which printed the Irish Impartial and different newspapers, and which was later purchased by Belgian group Mediahuis.
“Many individuals will say that multinationals, like my firm Digicel, are new colonialists,” he stated.
The businessman stated Digicel made income in nations resembling Haiti but in addition had a accountability to the event of the Caribbean nation.
“We make revenue in Haiti and fortunately pay company tax, gross sales tax and all different taxes,” he stated.
“In case you take the continent of Africa alone, Fb generates the equal of 1 greenback per 30 days per Fb consumer and generates billions in promoting income throughout 54 nations.
Mr O’Brien criticised the corporate over its lack of company tax paid in Africa. “It’s the most unbelievable and amoral enterprise mannequin one may ever think about,” he stated.
“Eire regrettably has allowed itself to turn into Fb’s laundrette for the largest tax avoidance scheme on the planet,” he instructed the lecture.
Mr O’Brien stated the corporate was “insidious”, and its platform had a job in spreading misinformation and hatred.
Fb’s practices and insurance policies have come below renewed strain in the US in latest weeks, after a lot of whistleblowers got here ahead to criticise the corporate’s strategy to consumer security and efforts to sort out hate speech.
The Irish businessman stated the present Fb controversy reminded him “of what Germany skilled with creeping authoritarianism, which few individuals known as out”.
The social media firm had “turn into practically too large to problem,” and no single authorities would be capable of rein it in alone, he stated.
A spokeswoman for Fb stated the corporate wouldn’t be commenting on Mr O’Brien’s speech.
Nonetheless, the spokeswoman outlined that Fb “adjust to worldwide tax guidelines and we pay all of the taxes required in every of the nations through which we function.”
The corporate paid $4.23 billion in company revenue taxes final yr, principally within the US, she stated.
“During the last decade, enterprise fashions have modified considerably and tax guidelines have didn’t sustain. That’s why we’ve got lengthy known as for reform of the worldwide tax guidelines and have needed the worldwide talks to succeed. We settle for that will imply we’ve got to pay extra tax and pay it elsewhere,” the spokeswoman stated.
The social media firm was concerned in a lot of tasks in Africa to enhance broadband, 4G and 5G entry, together with a big subsea cable undertaking, 2Africa cable. It’s also concerned in fibre tasks in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, it stated.
Fb opened its first workplace in Africa in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2015, and an workplace in Lagos, Nigeria in 2020.