Big Tech companies have been accused of meddling in the 2020 election, and their employees have obtained influential roles within the Biden-Harris organization, which critics say could signal a return to the friendly stance held by the Obama administration toward Silicon Valley.
That raises “serious legal concerns,” according to Scott Watnik, member of the litigation department and co-chair of the cybersecurity practice at the law firm Wilk Auslander LLP.
“What appears to have happened here is that dollars sourced from Zuckerberg have been used to fund a public function that is to be performed under the auspices of public election officials with taxpayer funding,” Watnik told The Epoch Times. “But when it comes to election infrastructure, each state is required to treat people equally under the law—the 14th Amendment applies.
“It’s no secret at this point that the funds were not disbursed in an even-handed way in terms of election infrastructure,” he added. “Far from that, the funds were distributed to favor select, left-leaning demographic areas over others, including in swing states.”
Another point of concern, critics say, is that dozens of Big Tech alumni have joined Biden’s transition team or have gained influential positions in his administration.
Facebook alumni also have filled a number of roles in the Biden administration.
Similarly, two Amazon officials have landed spots on Biden’s agency review teams for the State Department and the Office of Management and Budget. Sources also told Reuters that former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, a billionaire and Silicon Valley titan, “has been making personnel recommendations for appointments to the Department of Defense as the company tries to pursue military contracts and defense work.”
‘Justified Worry’
The fact that, per FCC records, Big Tech CEOs were major contributors to Democratic campaigns and causes has caused Republicans concern about the revolving door between Big Tech and a possible incoming White House, said Andrew Selepak, a social media professor at the University of Florida.“With such an overwhelming disparity in political ideology among those at the Big Tech companies, this limits the thinking and opinions of those who design and control the technologies that we all use and can have a tremendous impact on how they impact users,” Selepak told The Epoch Times.
“During the 2020 campaign, the tech companies frequently flagged posts by users as false, removed accounts, shut down pages, and limited the reach of stories and users,” he said. “These restrictions and limitations are the antithesis of the marketplace of ideas that social media companies should be as platforms and instead are acting more as publishers.”
He said consumers want the government to investigate these companies for any potential abuse and for the effect they have on society.
Some, however, argue that Biden wouldn’t be lax against Big Tech. John E. Lopatka, antitrust scholar and a professor of law at Pennsylvania State University’s Dickinson School of Law, told The Epoch Times previously that an aggressive, or interventionist, antitrust enforcement policy is “fully consistent with Democratic political ideology, and so any Democratic administration would be inclined to adopt it.”
Blair Brandt, a South Florida-based political consultant, Republican strategist, and GOP fundraiser, said he believes a Justice Department under a Biden administration wouldn’t actively push antitrust suits against Big Tech, noting that most of the suits are being brought by Republican state attorney generals.
“Republican mega-donors & billionaires invested into President Trump’s campaign,” Brandt told The Epoch Times. “Democrat mega-donors & billionaires invested in the election process itself. What does that tell you?”
Brandt said the real risk is legislatively. He said a Democratic-majority House and a Biden White House “will have no interest in overturning the Section 230 provision, which in many ways got them to where they are.”
“Trump’s toughest opponent ... wasn’t even Democrats—it was their Silicon Valley allies in Big Tech constantly censoring his social media platforms,” he said. “Assuming he takes office, Biden will either shock people and take a firm pro-democracy & pro-America stand on these issues, or he’ll fulfill low expectations and bow to their pressures.”
Biden’s transition team didn’t immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment. A Facebook spokesperson also didn’t immediately respond.
