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January. 19, 2023 10:32 am ET
President Biden will speak in Washington on January 16.
Photo:
Michael Brochstein / Zuma Press
In 720 days of his administration, President Biden issued his first public call for bipartisanship, asking Republicans to join Democrats to “unite against Big Tech Abuses” (op-ed, Jan. 12). The president proposed a “law to hold Big Tech accountable.” But who is responsible? The regulatory proposals put forth by Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lena Khan would subject not only technology, but all big business to a level of regulation that would include socialism.
The president called for “federal protections for Americans’ privacy.” But the legislation he championed, Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s American Innovation and Choice Online Act, would have directed U.S. tech companies to share the guts of their operations with thousands of their competitors, including foreign companies. This creates the illusion of privacy by exposing the personal information of American consumers, businesses and government agencies to the world.
The bipartisan deal maker Mr. Biden promised on the campaign trail didn’t happen suddenly, but not for a day. Buyer beware.
Robert. H. Bork Jr
President, Antitrust Education Project
Washington
Mr. Biden is right: There is plenty of room for bipartisan concern about these companies profiting from practices that undermine our democratic principles and harm our children. Next month, two laws will come into effect in the EU that will introduce significant new safeguards. Soon American tech companies will offer Europeans better online protection than Americans. The president and Congress should ask why companies don’t extend these protections to all consumers.
For now, existing consumer protection laws, merger reviews and licensing provisions should be used extensively to hold tech companies accountable. Congress must act, but the president can continue to protect Americans with the tools in his arsenal.
Patrick Gaspard
President, Center for American Progress
Washington
I couldn’t get past the first paragraph of Mr. Biden’s op-ed. In listing the many sins he plans to confront Big Tech with, he rightly sees Big Tech colluding with the federal government to censor legitimate and persuasive facts, information, arguments, and opinions on social media that the Biden administration deems objectionable.
Mark Van Brussels
Poway, California
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