Dear editor:
We now know that the insurrection of January 6, 2021 was organized largely online, with loose networks of Trump-inspired radicals hatching a plan to infiltrate the Capitol and harm our representatives, including the Vice President. Yet nearly a year after that incident, Congress still hasn’t figured out how to handle dangerous, conspiratorial speech online.
Last Friday, President Biden wisely revoked a Trump executive order which sought to limit liability protections for online platforms, an order originally signed in retaliation to the former president’s ban from Twitter. While President Biden’s action walks back a needless Trump-era legacy, attempts to seek political retribution against "enemy" technology companies have continued from many Republicans.
Congress is finally calling the Big Tech CEOs on the carpet to answer important questions about their business practices and whether those might violate antitrust law.
I encourage everyone who can to watch the hearings as they stream live. There are several websites where you can watch it, here is one:
CEO’s of the country’s four largest tech companies – Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google are scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee tomorrow. Though this hearing is the result of a year-long investigation of competition in the digital marketplace, the opportunity to examine Big Tech practices and monopolies is increasingly pressing as the coronavirus pandemic has further revealed how these companies, especially Amazon, have consolidated power at the expense of small businesses.
Technology has provided numerous opportunities that didn't exist as little as 10 years ago. With the push of a button, we can watch a random video clip from 1970, or order a left-handed back scratcher delivered to our door in 24 hours.
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