July 26, 2019
Permission to republish original opeds and cartoons granted.
Trump, Barr set sights on Big Tech over antitrust concerns
The Antitrust
Division of the Justice Department is setting its sights on big tech firms like
Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon in announcing a review of potentially
anticompetitive activities that could be limiting consumer choices. The push
comes on the heels of the White House Social Media Summit where President
Donald Trump citied censorship on social media as a major concern of his
administration. To follow up the summit, Trump promised that there would be a
meeting with “representatives of the major social media platforms” to have “a
real conversation”about the issue. Now, given the Antitrust Division’s
statement that “If violations of law are identified, the Department will
proceed appropriately to seek redress,” those meetings may have become a whole
lot more interesting. Perhaps a deal can be struck that avoids a confrontation.
Cartoon: Shocking
Did the Mueller
testimony backfire on Democrats?
Video: Carrie Severino: Inside the Kavanaugh Confirmation
Judicial Crisis
Network Chief Counsel Carrie Severino talks with Americans for Limited
Government President Rick Manning about her book, “Justice on Trial: The
Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court.”
Video: After Mueller testimony, it's time to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia conspiracy theory
Former Special
Counsel Robert Mueller cannot say how the Trump-Russia conspiracy investigation
was started on false pretenses, so now it’s up to Attorney General William Barr
to get to the bottom of it.
Time for DOJ to get to bottom of the origins of Trump-Russia conspiracy theory
Americans for Limited
Government President Rick Manning: “Former Special Robert Mueller's startling
admission that he failed to look at the origins of the Trump-Russia conspiracy
theory opens the door for U.S. Attorney John Durham to conduct a complete and
unfettered investigation into the whether the powers of intelligence agencies,
State Department and the Justice Department were abused in an attempt to
influence and negate the election of Donald Trump to the presidency. Words
cannot describe how flabbergasted Americans should be that we have been dragged
through three years of false political allegations and the person entrusted to
get to the bottom of them proceeded with the assumption that people were guilty
until proven innocent. Every prosecution resulting from the Mueller
investigation should be evaluated by the President for potential pardon as they
all resulted from fruit of a poison tree. Attorney General William Barr did the
right thing in appointing U.S. Attorney Durham to get to the bottom of how we
got into what is likely the biggest scandal in our intelligence services' history.
We await his and Inspector General Michael Horowitz' forthcoming reports on
these abuses."
Trump, Barr set sights on Big Tech over antitrust concerns
By Robert Romano
The Antitrust Division of the Justice Department is setting its sights on big tech firms like Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon in announcing a review of potentially anticompetitive activities that could be limiting consumer choices, hurting small businesses and some say even engaging in censorship.
The review will determine “whether and how market-leading online platforms have achieved market power and are engaging in practices that have reduced competition, stifled innovation, or otherwise harmed consumers,” according to a Justice Department press release on July 23.
The focus on “market power” will undoubtedly hold tremendous implications affecting most adult Americans. A Pew report found 68 percent of adult Americans use Facebook, or over 170 million. 24 percent use Twitter, or about 61 million. A separate Pew report found 73 percent, or 185 million, use broadband internet. Statista reports that Google’s family of sites are the most popular in America, with 255 million unique U.S. visitors in March 2019 alone.
The press released added, “The Department’s review will consider the widespread concerns that consumers, businesses, and entrepreneurs have expressed about search, social media, and some retail services online. The Department’s Antitrust Division is conferring with and seeking information from the public, including industry participants who have direct insight into competition in online platforms, as well as others.”
Similar concerns have been raised on a bipartisan basis. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has endorsed a similar approach. In a recent statement, she said, “As these companies have grown larger and more powerful, they have used their resources and control over the way we use the internet to squash small businesses and innovation, and substitute their own financial interests for the broader interests of the American people. To restore the balance of power in our democracy, to promote competition, and to ensure that the next generation of technology innovation is as vibrant as the last, it’s time to break up our biggest tech companies.”
Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) is suing Google for $50 million for suspending her ads account immediately following the Democratic debate.
According to the complaint: “At the height of Gabbard’s popularity among Internet searchers in the immediate hours after the debate ended, and in the thick of the critical post-debate period (when television viewers, radio listeners, newspaper read-ers, and millions of other Americans are discussing and searching for presidential candidates), Google suspended Tulsi’s Google Ads account without warning. For hours, as millions of Americans searched Google for information about Tulsi, and as Tulsi was trying, through Google, to speak to them, her Google Ads account was arbitrarily and forcibly taken offline. Throughout this period, the Campaign worked frantically to gather more information about the suspension; to get through to someone at Google who could get the Account back online; and to understand and remedy the restraint that had been placed on Tulsi’s speech—at precisely the moment when everyone wanted to hear from her.”
The implications are clear, Gabbard argues: “Google could unilaterally and decisively end a presidential candidate’s bid for office if it chose to, for example by tweaking its search algorithm to disfavor the candidate; or blocking the candidate from its ad platforms; or keeping the candidate’s communications from getting to interested voters who use Gmail for email communications.”
This is the heart of any potential antitrust suit. With money changing hands, whether for political campaigns, non-profits or news sites, social media companies that arbitrarily suspend accounts and engage in deplatforming are interfering in commerce.
That doesn’t mean the extent of the problems fall under antitrust. Other alternatives that have been proposed, including by this author, might be for Congress to narrowly expand the franchise of protected groups under civil rights law to include politics, excluding employment hiring for exclusive organizations like political parties and organizations, and defining interactive computer services, banking, DNS resolution, web hosting and email services as public accommodations so that services cannot be denied on the basis of politics.
The push by the Justice Departmen comes on the heels of the White House Social Media Summit where President Donald Trump citied censorship on social media as a major concern of his administration. “Big tech must not censor the voices of the American people,” Trump declared, adding, “I’m directing my administration to explore all regulatory and legislative solutions to protect free speech and the free-speech rights of all Americans.”
The President cited the removal of tweets by Twitter of actor James Woods as an example of the type of censorship taking place, saying, “James Woods. I don’t know James, but he’s an interesting guy and he’s a conservative guy. And he is a straight shooter. He’s tough. But when they want to take him off — and other people like him; many in this room, some in this room — it’s a very, very bad — it’s a very bad thing.”
Other recent examples of deplatforming include Stephen Crowder who has been demonetized on Youtube (owned by Google) and Candace Owens was temporarily suspended on Facebook before the company did a reversal and declared it “an error.”
To follow up the summit, Trump promised that there would be a meeting with “representatives of the major social media platforms” to have “a real conversation” about the issue.
Now, given the Antitrust Division’s threat of legal action including its statement that “If violations of law are identified, the Department will proceed appropriately to seek redress,” those meetings may have become a whole lot more interesting. Perhaps a deal can be struck that avoids a confrontation.
In the meantime, the Trump administration is wise to step up antitrust enforcement in this area, keeping its constitutional Article II, Sec. 3 obligation that the President “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed…” Prior administrations have sidestepped robust antitrust enforcement in an environment when media consolidation could be threatening the possibility of a push to one-party style systems that stifle dissent and silence opponents.
Some well-intentioned but foolish (in this author’s estimation) thinkers would have the administration simply ignore what could be rampant violations of antitrust by big tech firms engaging in anticompetitive cartel behavior. But limited government means that officials cannot act arbitrarily when they make decisions but are guided and limited by laws. Ignoring antitrust and other laws designed to promote free markets, commerce and civil rights have brought us to this point. This should be handled carefully, and if the laws are not being followed, the Justice Department should take action. That’s what it is there for.
Antitrust is a broad tool, but given Congress’ own lack of action in this area, and the reluctance of prior administrations to enforce the laws while big tech firms keep getting bigger, it may be the only one in the administration’s wheelhouse that has any teeth.
Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government.
Cartoon: Shocking
Click here for a higher level resolution version.
Video: Carrie Severino: Inside the Kavanaugh Confirmation
To view online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLV3oSo9DAA
Video: After Mueller testimony, it's time to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia conspiracy theory
To view online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oqqt9r5qH7k
Time for DOJ to get to bottom of the origins of Trump-Russia conspiracy theory
July 25, 2019, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement urging the Justice Department to get to the bottom of the origins of the Trump-Russia conspiracy theory that became a three-years-long investigation:
"Former Special Robert Mueller's startling admission that he failed to look at the origins of the Trump-Russia conspiracy theory opens the door for U.S. Attorney John Durham to conduct a complete and unfettered investigation into the whether the powers of intelligence agencies, State Department and the Justice Department were abused in an attempt to influence and negate the election of Donald Trump to the presidency. Words cannot describe how flabbergasted Americans should be that we have been dragged through three years of false political allegations and the person entrusted to get to the bottom of them proceeded with the assumption that people were guilty until proven innocent. Every prosecution resulting from the Mueller investigation should be evaluated by the President for potential pardon as they all resulted from fruit of a poison tree. Attorney General William Barr did the right thing in appointing U.S. Attorney Durham to get to the bottom of how we got into what is likely the biggest scandal in our intelligence services' history. We await his and Inspector General Michael Horowitz' forthcoming reports on these abuses."
To view online: https://getliberty.org/2019/07/time-for-doj-to-get-to-bottom-of-the-origins-of-trump-russia-conspiracy-theory/
