President Joe Biden called on Congress during his State of the Union address to pass sweeping bipartisan legislation to rein in Big Tech.
Biden called for strict data collection limits on Big Tech firms and accountability for social media companies. “We must finally hold social media companies accountable for the experiment they are running on our children for profit,” Biden said. (RELATED: Watch Biden Pause SOTU Mid-Speech To Have It Out With Booing GOP)
“And it’s time to pass bipartisan legislation to stop Big Tech from collecting personal data on kids and teenagers online, ban targeted advertising to children, and impose stricter limits on the personal data these companies collect on all of us,” he continued.
standing ovation from VP Harris when Biden calls for Congress to “pass bipartisan legislation to strengthen antitrust enforcement and prevent big online platforms from giving their own products an unfair advantage”
— Emily Birnbaum (@birnbaum_e) February 8, 2023
Biden also called for antitrust legislation targeting Big Tech firms. “Pass bipartisan legislation to strengthen antitrust enforcement and prevent big online platforms from giving their own products an unfair advantage,” Biden said.
A major barrier to President Biden’s proposals is Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. He has close ties to Big Tech firms and reportedly prevented bipartisan antitrust bills targeting Big Tech from receiving floor votes in the Senate, despite significant support among Republicans and Democrats alike.
His daughter Jessica is a registered lobbyist for Amazon and her husband previously worked for Google, according to the New York Post. His daughter Alison works as a product manager for Meta, parent company of Facebook, the outlet reported.
Over 80 former Schumer staffers work directly for Big Tech firms or indirectly as lobbyists, including former chief of staff David Hantman and former chief counsel Reggie Babin, The American Prospect found.
Big Tech has become a significant industry for Democratic fundraising, with 90% of its $106.2 million contributions in 2020 going to left-wing politicians, according to watchdog group OpenSecrets.
Conservatives who oppose Big Tech see some promise in President Biden’s remarks. President of the Internet Accountability Project Mike Davis told the Daily Caller that “President Biden has messed up just about everything — except for his bipartisan antitrust proposals and appointments to rein in the trillion dollar Big Tech monopolists that are crushing competition, shuttering small business and canceling conservatives.”
“Republicans and Democrats must come together to end Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple’s gatekeeping power over information and commerce,” Davis added.