Joe Biden set to crack down on Big Tech

The revolving door between Big Tech and Washington is turning again as internet giants hope for softer treatment under Biden.

The two regulatory battlegrounds for Big Tech will be antitrust and free speech. Picture: AFP

The crackdown on the powers of Big Tech companies is likely to be embraced by the Biden administration, with the president-elects critic of the unrestrained growth of companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter.

Mr Biden has been a strong advocate for the reform of the loose regulatory framework that has allowed the Big Tech companies in recent years to extend their economic and social reach without any significant oversight.

The two regulatory battlegrounds will be antitrust and free speech. The latter centres on section 230, which shields platforms from liability for what users post on them.

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris take the stage at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware. Picture: AFP

During the election campaign, Mr Biden said section 230 should “immediately be revoked” for Facebook and other platforms.

“It is propagating falsehoods they know to be false, and we should be setting standards not unlike the Europeans are doing relative to privacy,” he said.

Mr Biden wants to make it easier to sue internet companies for failing to deal with dangerous or criminal content on their sites.

But the bigger goal for critics of Big Tech is antitrust reform.

The Department of Justice recently launched a lawsuit against Alphabet, the parent company of Google, alleging abuse of marketpower to maintain an illegal monopoly. A similar antitrust case has also been brought about by Facebook, while several smaller suits alleging misconduct by Big Tech companies are in their early stages.

Facebook chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the House Financial Services Committee in 2019. Picture: AFP

The House antitrust subcommittee recently published a 449-page report that labelled the big four tech companies — Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and Facebook — threats not just to consumers and rivals, but to democracy itself.  

“These firms have too much power, and that power must be reined in,” the report said. “Our economy and democracy are at stake.”

Mr Biden has not been as direct as former Democratic presidential nominee Elizabeth Warren about breaking up big tech companies, but he has expressed concern over their unchecked market power.

Other technology issues likely to be on Mr Biden’s agenda include net neutrality, rural broadband and online privacy.