US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called on Republican and Democratic lawmakers to break years of political gridlock and pass legislation that would rein in the power of Big Tech.
The United States is home to global tech giants Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook-owned Meta but has followed governments in Europe and Asia to create more modern rules to curb their power.
“The risks of Big Tech to ordinary Americans are clear,” Biden said in an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal just days after the Republican party took the majority in the House of Representatives after the election in November.
“It’s time to step up and do something,” he said.
Most of the pushback in the United States against Big Tech comes from state and local authorities or national regulators such as the Federal Trade Commission or the Department of Justice.
Biden said his administration is working to legislate against Big Tech in several areas, including privacy protections, and he supports bans on advertising targeted at children.
He said the law could give authorities access to the algorithms that power social media and that lawmakers should rethink existing laws that exempt tech companies from liability for content on the site.
There is bipartisan support for reforming the long-standing provision, known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, but disagreement among political parties on how to proceed.
Biden also emphasized fairer competition where “small and medium-sized businesses, mom-and-pop shops, entrepreneurs – can compete on a level playing field with the biggest companies.”
“The next generation of great American companies must not be disrupted by dominant incumbents before they have a chance to get off the ground,” he said.
The antitrust laws are seen as a long shot, with Republicans unwilling to stand in the way of big business.
Big Tech companies have lobbied hard in recent years to counter any momentum to legislate in Washington.
According to a December report from Public Citizen, a group of NGOs, tech giants and their allies spent $277 million on lobbying over the past two years.