{"id":1764041,"date":"2022-12-06T06:09:36","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T11:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1764041"},"modified":"2022-12-06T06:33:23","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T11:33:23","slug":"its-a-farce-republicans-must-resist-big-techs-new-lobbying-efforts-to-save-face-with-conservatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-a-farce-republicans-must-resist-big-techs-new-lobbying-efforts-to-save-face-with-conservatives\/","title":{"rendered":"It&#8217;s a Farce: Republicans Must Resist Big Tech\u2019s New Lobbying Efforts To Save Face With Conservatives"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fits-a-farce-republicans-must-resist-big-techs-new-lobbying-efforts-to-save-face-with-conservatives%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1764041&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Changsha_Apple_Store.jpeg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>You\u2019re totally prepared to fight your longstanding enemies in pitched battle, but are you ready to be wooed by them?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Republican Party\u2019s recently elected members \u2014 as well as whoever assumes the gavels in the House \u2014 better be mentally primed to be confronted by Big Tech, and not by its daggers, but rather by its sweetest of entreaties. The Silicon Valley behemoths have been at this game for a long time and have resources to burn. Not only do they\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/morning-tech\/2022\/01\/24\/tech-spent-big-on-lobbying-last-year-00001144\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">outspend<\/a>\u00a0the defense industrial complex in lobbyists, but they have also think tanks and academics\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/07\/19\/new-tool-unmasks-big-techs-social-media-sock-puppets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">on their payroll<\/a>\u00a0to launder their business positions into academic and policy pablum.<\/p>\n<p>In the wake of the first installment of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mtaibbi\/status\/1598822959866683394?s=20&#038;t=MjHs32ol2RzWnoCdTtDNjg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cThe Twitter Files\u201d<\/a> \u2014 which confirm just how much the tech executives despise the political right \u2014 the Big Tech Reunion Tour has kicked off.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The House hasn\u2019t even elected its speaker, but Apple CEO Tim Cook has already descended upon Capitol Hill to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/politics\/apple-ceo-tim-cook-flies-meet-gop-lawmakers-standoff-elon-musks-twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">meet<\/a>\u00a0with top Republican lawmakers. Apple is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/politics\/house-passes-antitrust-bill-targeting-big-tech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">facing<\/a>\u00a0the specter of at least one antitrust bill that could curb its monopolistic practices, so its future market cap is likely tied to how effectively the corporation\u2019s captain can cozy up to the new sheriffs in town.<\/p>\n<p>The GOP must go into these \u201cdiscussions\u201d with Cook not merely with eyes wide open, but set to face gushing talk of \u201cshared values\u201d and perhaps too what resembles apologies for past behavior. Despite what Cook might mouth, Apple has no intention of acting as a good-faith partner with the conservative movement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Look no further than how quickly Apple moved to kneecap the social media company, Parler, from its App Store, despite no evidence that Parler\u2019s users \u201corganized\u201d the Jan. 6\u00a0riots any more than users on Facebook and YouTube. In fact, charging documents from the Department of Justice\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/02\/22\/court-docs-show-facebook-played-much-bigger-part-in-capitol-riot-than-parler-yet-no-consequences\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cite posts<\/a>\u00a0on Facebook and YouTube at a higher rate than posts on Parler, but Facebook and Google (which owns YouTube) were never threatened by Apple with de-platforming.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Apple is now facing calls from activists and the corporate media to do the same thing to Twitter now that it\u2019s owned by Elon Musk. Despite what Apple might try to sell to lawmakers, it is not a neutral market access point for social media apps. Together with Google, Apple monopolizes the distribution of apps and wields its power ideologically.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This makes sense when you consider that Apple is staffed primarily by leftists. According to an\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/orgs\/apple-inc\/summary?id=D000021754\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">analysis<\/a>\u00a0by Open Secrets, almost 90 percent of political donations from Apple employees went to Democrats last cycle. This has been the balance for a while. Two years ago, even the left-leaning CNBC\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2020\/07\/02\/most-liberal-tech-companies-ranked-by-employee-donations.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">named<\/a>\u00a0Apple one of America\u2019s \u201cmost liberal tech companies\u201d based on employees\u2019 political donations.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Partisan leanings alone don\u2019t trigger a policy response. But lopsided political donations should smack Republicans with the clear message that Apple employees? Yeah, they\u2019re just not that into you.<\/p>\n<p>Apple\u2019s kowtowing to China is also gravely disturbing. Even as the CCP further tightens its authoritarian grip, evidenced by its latest round of lockdowns and the jailing of pro-democracy journalists like Jimmy Lai, Apple brashly displays its eagerness to continue making a buck. This past week, amidst arguably the most widespread unrest since 1989, Apple\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/technology\/apple-restricts-airdrop-file-sharing-china-protesters-used\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">restricted<\/a>\u00a0AirDrop for iPhones sold in mainland China. The file-sharing feature had been widely used by protesters.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, Apple reportedly\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/technology\/2020\/11\/20\/apple-uighur\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lobbied<\/a>\u00a0against a bill in 2020 that would have effectively prohibited American companies from using slaves to make products. Then last year, investigative reporters and human-rights groups\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theinformation.com\/articles\/seven-apple-suppliers-accused-of-using-forced-labor-from-xinjiang\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">accused<\/a>\u00a0seven Apple suppliers of being linked to suspected forced labor of Uyghur Muslims and other persecuted groups.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s clear is that Apple\u2019s current \u201cvalues\u201d are neither of the conservative movement nor our nation as a whole. Anti-competitive bullying, let alone blatant disregard for intrinsic human rights, is foreign to the American creed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Now, conservatives, so accustomed to being reviled and spurned by the leading institutions of popular culture, have shown themselves easily swooned by the most minor pleasantries, and embarrassingly eager to meet with the celebrity CEOs who, in every other context, hate us. It\u2019s a scene straight out of the movie\u00a0\u201cMean Girls,\u201d\u00a0where the high school nerd gets punched in the face by the popular girl and joyfully exclaims, \u201cIt was awesome!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The GOP should know that its constituents are watching closely the outcome with Big Tech, and we\u2019ll punish it in the public square and at the ballot box for lacking a backbone. To our new members and future leadership, we say, don\u2019t hoodwink our movement, don\u2019t stiff America, and please \u2014 stop protecting the companies who so openly despise us.\u00a0<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Rachel Bovard is The Federalist&#8217;s senior tech columnist and the senior director of policy at the Conservative Partnership Institute.  She has more than a decade of policy experience in Washington and has served in both the House and Senate in various roles, including as a legislative director and policy director for the Senate Steering Committee under the successive chairmanships of Sen. Pat Toomey and Sen. Mike Lee. She also served as director of policy services for The Heritage Foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019re totally prepared to fight your longstanding enemies in pitched battle, but are you ready to be wooed by them?\u00a0 The Republican Party\u2019s recently elected members \u2014 as well as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1762827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1764041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1764041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1764041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1764041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1762827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1764041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1764041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1764041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}