Over the past week, conservatives and libertarians online have been fighting over whether it’s a good idea for the federal government to prosecute publishers of pornography. Elsewhere, conservatives such as Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri have called for greater federal regulation of online content providers such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter. Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has railed against big corporations buying back their own stock instead of investing in new plants and equipment (or wages). The Trump administration, for its part, continues to prosecute Obama-era “midnight lawsuit” labor cases against Big Tech and, in general, has no problem using the regulatory state against its political enemies.
What is going on here? Why are conservatives suddenly so interested in using the power of the federal Leviathan to enforce our view of the common good?
