Biden urges Congress to pass bipartisan Big Tech crackdown

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President Biden is calling for Congress to crack down on Big Tech companies, urging Republicans and Democrats to unite and give the executive branch more authority to act. 

Mr. Biden said new legislation should develop federal privacy protections for Americans, force tech platforms to take responsibility for the content on their platforms and their algorithms, and bring competition to the tech sector.  

“We must hold social-media companies accountable for the experiment they are running on our children for profit,” Mr. Biden wrote in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. “To keep Americans on their platforms, Big Tech companies often use users’ personal data to direct them toward extreme and polarizing content that is likely to keep them logged on and clicking. All too often, tragic violence has been linked to toxic online echo chambers.”

Mr. Biden’s push for new federal powers comes after revelations of how his administration pressured tech platforms to do its bidding. Twitter owner Elon Musk has exposed the federal government’s efforts to pressure his predecessors at the social media firm into censoring conservative and contrarian voices, in a series of disclosures to writers dubbed the Twitter Files.

Mr. Biden’s push for new federal powers comes after revelations of how his administration pressured tech platforms to do its bidding. Twitter owner Elon Musk has exposed the federal government’s efforts to pressure his predecessors at the social media firm into censoring conservative and contrarian voices, in a series of disclosures to writers dubbed the Twitter Files.

The Biden administration’s effort to pressure Facebook employees was showcased last year in records released by Louisiana and Missouri’s attorneys general who filed a lawsuit against the president and other government officials. The litigation unearthed examples such as a White House official asking Facebook employees to take down the Instagram account “anthonyfauciofficial” that appeared to parody Dr. Anthony Fauci, then leader of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. 

Digital First Project Executive Director Nathan Leamer criticized Mr. Biden’s column on Thursday as a distraction from news of the federal government’s censorship efforts. 

“The White House is clearly trying to divert attention away from their efforts to squash heterodox views [on] a host of issues and voices they have found problematic or against their preferred narrative,” Mr. Leamer said on Twitter. 

As justification for the new bipartisan proposal, Mr. Biden cited concerns about tech companies’ use of personal data, exacerbating extremism, creating an unfair economic playing field, violating women’s and minorities’ civil rights and putting children in harm’s way. 

The president said his administration has accomplished some of his agenda for policy aimed at tech companies but he wants Congress to give him additional power.

He said his administration is writing new privacy rules for commercial data, has developed standards to combat algorithmic discrimination and is “working with domestic and global partners to make online safety a priority.”

“But our existing authority has limits. We need bipartisan action from Congress to hold Big Tech accountable,” Mr. Biden wrote. “We’ve heard a lot of talk about creating committees. It’s time to walk the walk and get something done.”

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