Monday, May 06, 2019

Encourage competition and break up monopolies

In American Greatness, Paul Bradford writes about the hypocrisy of Big Tech.
...The hypocrisy is glaring when reviewing the many cases where Facebook, Google, and Twitter blocked or banned users based solely on their political views. These platforms promise a free and open internet, yet fail to deliver one with their own services.

...“If you allow the market to sort itself out—when the market is a functional monopoly—you empower the monopolists,” panel host and Hoover Institution fellow Jeremy Carl said.

Facebook, Google, and other tech giants operate more like monopolies than the internet providers regulated by net neutrality. More than two-thirds of Americans receive their news from social media. Ninety-three percent of the search engine market is dominated by Google. These corporate giants used their power to throttle the competition. Mozilla has accused Google of intentionally making YouTube videos crash and run slow on Firefox, a competitor to Google’s Chrome browser. Facebook’s Instagram has blocked links to competitors like Snapchat.

Internet nondiscrimination is not just about protecting free speech. It’s also about upholding free-market principles where competition is encouraged and monopolies are broken up. Perhaps it’s time for Congress to make big tech live up to its own principles.
Read more here.

No comments:

Post a Comment