President Joe Biden took to the pages of The Wall Street Journal to launch a sweeping attack on Big Tech, saying the government needs to step in.
In his op-ed for the newspaper, the president took aim at “some” Big Tech players — he did not name names — saying they “exploit our most personal data, deepen extremism and polarization in our country, tilt our economy’s playing field, violate the civil rights of women and minorities, and even put our children at risk.”
Biden said social-media companies have to be held accountable "for the experiment they are running on our children for profit.”
His predecessor, Donald Trump, also wanted to crack down on social media and reform Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the provision that makes users of social-media platforms immune from civil liability for third-party content, but that was primarily over what he saw as its bias against him and censorship of conservative speech.
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Biden blamed the internet for allowing “abusive and even criminal conduct, like cyberstalking, child sexual exploitation, nonconsensual pornography and sales of dangerous drugs.”
As for their business practices, he said Big Tech had “elbowed mom-and-pop businesses out from their platforms, disadvantaged them, or charged them outlandish prices, making it harder for them to compete and grow, and thereby stifling innovation.”
The president outlined a three-pronged approach to reform: 1) federal privacy protections, including the government preventing some kinds of data collection; 2) reforming Section 230; and 3) preventing Big Tech companies from getting too big.
Biden called for bipartisan congressional action. “It’s time to walk the walk and get something done.”
At least on the issues of federal privacy legislation and Section 230 reform, the president had a supporter in new House Energy & Commerce Committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), though she suggested a previous executive order on the Big Tech issue was out of bounds.
In a statement responding to Biden’s op-ed, she said: “President Biden is correct to acknowledge the risks posed by Big Tech for Americans. Rather than trying to address these harms unilaterally through executive action and contorting authority, the administration needs to work with Congress to enact comprehensive privacy protections through one national privacy standard that protects all Americans, especially our kids.”
McMorris Rodgers also said she would continue to look for a way to reform Section 230 to “ensure Big Tech is encouraging more free speech on their platforms, not less.” ■
