Facebook is being exploited by right-wingers like Donald Trump - and CEO Mark Zuckerberg refuses to take action to stop the spread of fake, misleading, and incendiary political ads. It's clear that, to Facebook, profits are too important to take any steps to regulate their platform.

Recently, Zuckerberg said he was "disgusted" by Trump's rhetoric, but no one should take the crocodile tears of a billionaire profiting off of those same hateful posts he's critiquing seriously. Fortunately, some corporations and organizations are taking a stand by boycotting Facebook ads, but the problems created by Facebook cannot be solved by a few good Samaritans.

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So what should we do?

Traditionally, when massive corporations become too big to compete with, they are either broken up or regulated like utilities. When a company's actions cause a negative side effect to society, as in pollution, for example, they are taxed or fined. Why should Big Tech companies be treated any differently?

Big Tech needs to be reined in, which is why we think Sen. Elizabeth Warren's plan to break up tech monopolies should be a priority for Congress.

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Her plan is to:

+ Prevent new, competition-squelching mergers and nullify existing ones, like Facebook's merger with Instagram. By disincentivizing competition, small businesses are being shut out, corporations capture a huge market share, and tech companies have more leverage over publishers of content.

+ Prohibit tech companies from simultaneously running a marketplace and selling goods and services on that marketplace. This means Amazon would not be able to unfairly promote its AmazonBasics product line over a third-party competitor, and Facebook would not be able to promote its own gaming platform over Apple's App Store.

Warren's plan revamps antiquated antitrust laws for the 21st century by defining certain Big Tech companies as "platform utilities" - a designation that more clearly explains Big Tech's unique role in dominating markets. Big Tech has captured so much of the market that they are even worse than the oil and railroad barons of the Gilded Age.

Much of Facebook and Amazon's domination is due to the fact that they haven't been regulated - nor taxed at a rate commensurate with their revenue. For years, lawmakers lavished praise on the tech billionaires of Seattle and Silicon Valley while turning a blind eye to Big Tech's misdeeds and growing power. As a result, inequality has exploded and our democracy has suffered.

There are good proposals, like Warren's, that would help fix our broken status quo. What we're missing is the will to do so by our elected officials. That's why we need your signature. Sign your name now to demand that Congress regulate Big Tech companies like Amazon and Facebook!

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CIVIC SURVEY: Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump are trying to prevent vote-by-mail - even during a pandemic! TELL US: Should we pass universal vote-by-mail? YES OR NO?

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