In advance of a House antitrust subcommittee featuring four of the world’s most prominent technology CEOs, President Trump went off on a diatribe targeting Big Tech. First, the White House directed the Federal Communications Commission to “clarify that Section 230 does not permit social media companies that alter or editorialize users’ speech to escape civil liability” — something the FCC absolutely cannot and will not do.
Then, Trump tweeted:
If Congress doesn’t bring fairness to Big Tech, which they should have done years ago, I will do it myself with Executive Orders. In Washington, it has been ALL TALK and NO ACTION for years, and the people of our Country are sick and tired of it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2020
It’s abhorrent enough for the leader of the supposedly small-government party to boast about using executive orders to punish private companies because of his own personal animus. But this notion that ordinary folks across the country loathe Big Tech as much as the Beltway is just patently false.
A national poll conducted by the Verge last December found that 9 in 10 respondents viewed Amazon and Google favorably, 4 in 5 viewed Apple favorably, and 7 in 10 viewed Facebook favorably. And whereas the majority of the public polled by Morning Consult last year said that they want presidential candidates to criticize healthcare, Big Pharma, and higher education, just 40% said the same thing about tech. That’s a smaller percentage than the number of people who said to criticize the news media, manufacturing, and renewable energy.
When asked point-blank by pollsters from the Hill, the majority of Democrats and Republicans said that the government should not regulate tech companies like they are monopolies. (Not one of the companies on the chopping block fits the Justice Department’s criteria for a monopoly subject to antitrust regulation.)
According to DOJ guidelines, it’s “a market share in excess of two-thirds.”
The tech companies likely don’t exceed that threshold in any antitrust product market.
– Amazon 38% of ecommerce
– Apple 58% of US smartphone OS
– Google 29% of digital ads
– Facebook 23% of digital ads pic.twitter.com/86aydetIUz— Alec ? (@AlecStapp) July 29, 2020
And finally, public opinion of Big Tech has only improved since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. A Harris poll conducted in April found that 38% of respondents have a more positive opinion of the tech industry as a result of the pandemic. Just 9% said their opinion worsened.
Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg created nearly 1 million jobs that didn’t exist before and more than $2 trillion of market value. Their entrepreneurship created products that make the lives of billions easier and happier, and consumer satisfaction is reflected in the polling. Just remember that as a room of people who have never created a single dollar or job in their lives try to vilify them.
