{"id":2132684,"date":"2023-12-24T04:28:02","date_gmt":"2023-12-24T09:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-lawmakers-and-regulators-failed-to-rein-in-big-tech-in-2023\/"},"modified":"2023-12-24T04:34:24","modified_gmt":"2023-12-24T09:34:24","slug":"how-lawmakers-and-regulators-failed-to-rein-in-big-tech-in-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-lawmakers-and-regulators-failed-to-rein-in-big-tech-in-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers and regulators&#8217; inability to control Big Tech in 2023"},"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\">20<\/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%2Fhow-lawmakers-and-regulators-failed-to-rein-in-big-tech-in-2023%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=2132684&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--><h2>Federal and State Governments Struggle to Rein in Big Tech<\/h2>\n<p>In 2023, federal and\u200d state government officials\u200d faced a challenging battle as they tried \u2064to curb \u200dthe power and growth of Big Tech companies. These companies, including Meta, Google, and Apple, dominate various sectors such as advertising, media, and public attention. Their cultural dominance led to bipartisan support for breaking them up and \u2063regulating their impact on teenage users. However, \u2064legislative and judicial obstacles hindered most attempts, making the year \u200dless successful than\u200d anticipated.<\/p>\n<h3>Efforts by Congress and the White House<\/h3>\n<p>President Joe Biden made a strong push in his \u200c2023 State of \u2064the\u2063 Union address, urging Congress to hold Big Tech \u200caccountable and prioritize \u200bthe safety of teenagers on online platforms. \u200cHe indirectly endorsed the Kids Online Safety Act, which aimed to compel social\u2063 media companies \u200dto take\u2063 measures against specific harms to\u2062 minors,\u200d such as promoting \u2064suicide, substance abuse, sexual exploitation, and drug or alcohol use. Although the legislation progressed through the Senate committee, it\u200b struggled\u2063 to secure a vote on the floor.<\/p>\n<p>Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) reintroduced the American Innovation and Choice Online Act in June, which sought to empower federal antitrust \u2063agencies to penalize &#8220;covered platforms&#8221; like Amazon and Google for unfairly favoring \u2063their own \u2063products. However, \u2063the bill failed to gain traction or\u200c receive consideration for committee markup.<\/p>\n<p>State \u2063lawmakers also took action by passing their\u2064 own laws to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/blackburn-calls-biden-ftc-nominee-not-aggressive-enough-on-big-tech\/\" title=\"Blackburn Calls Biden FTC Nominee \u2018Not Aggressive Enough\u2019 on Big Tech\">regulate social media companies<\/a>. Utah, Arkansas, and California each implemented laws in 2023 that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arkansas-social-media-parental-consent-law-is-blocked-at-the-last-minute\/\" title=\"Arkansas Parental Consent Law for Social Media Blocked Last Minute\">required age verification<\/a> and additional security\u200d standards for underage users. However, these age \u200cverification laws were blocked in \u2064court due to allegations of First \u200dAmendment violations.<\/p>\n<p>Several states also attempted to enforce age verification \u2062laws for accessing pornographic content. Although over half a dozen states embraced such laws in 2023, Texas&#8217;s law was blocked in court\u200c on First \u200bAmendment grounds.<\/p>\n<h3>The FTC and the DOJ<\/h3>\n<p>The \u200cFederal Trade Commission (FTC), led by Lina Khan, pursued lawsuits against Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon to prevent proposed mergers and prevent the alleged monopolies these \u200dcompanies were building.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the\u200c FTC&#8217;s lawsuit, Meta successfully acquired the AI-fitness developer Within in February. Microsoft&#8217;s \u200cnearly $70 billion acquisition of Call of Duty developer Activision Blizzard was approved in\u200b October, despite resistance from \u2062the FTC and the United Kingdom. The\u200d FTC continues to have an \u2063ongoing lawsuit against Amazon regarding\u2064 its treatment of sellers, with oral arguments \u200cexpected in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>In September, the\u2063 Department of Justice (DOJ) went \u200dto court to argue that Google held an illegal monopoly through its agreements with mobile phone-makers and web browser developers to become the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/inside-the-privacy-battle-raging-between-apple-and-facebook\/\" title=\"Inside The Privacy Battle Raging Between Apple And Facebook\">default search engine<\/a>. \u200dThe \u2064judge&#8217;s final decision \u2063is anticipated in late\u2062 spring \u200b2024.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> How did the arguments made by \u200bBig Tech lobbyists, regarding potential burdens on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-new-acting-attorney-general-jeff-rosen-recently-wrote-an-essay-on-foreign-influence-in-us-elections-this-tells-us-a-little-about-his-knowledge-of-whats-going-on-today\/\" title=\"The New Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen Recently Wrote an Essay on Foreign Influence in US Elections \u2013 This Tells Us A Little About His Knowledge of What\u2019s Going On Today\">social media platforms<\/a> and \u2063infringement on free speech\u2063 rights, affect the progress of the \u200cbill in Congress?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Gislation gained bipartisan support, it faced significant challenges in Congress. Big Tech lobbyists \u2064argued that the bill would impose undue \u2063burdens \u200don social\u2063 media platforms and infringe on free speech rights. As\u200c a result, the bill stalled in committee,\u2063 and\u2063 no progress was made \u2064in addressing the concerns raised\u200b by both sides.<\/p>\n<p>Congress also attempted to \u2063pass a bill to \u200dregulate the monopolistic practices of Big Tech companies. \u2064The proposed legislation\u200d sought to prevent anti-competitive behavior and promote\u2062 fair competition in the online marketplace. However, the \u200bbill faced fierce\u2063 opposition\u200b from tech industry leaders, who argued\u2062 that it would stifle innovation and \u2062hinder economic growth. Additionally, the \u2064bills faced \u2064legal obstacles, with critics arguing that they would be difficult to enforce\u2062 and could potentially violate constitutional rights. As\u200c a result, federal regulation of Big \u200dTech remained elusive.<\/p>\n<p>State governments also struggled to rein in \u2064the power \u2062of\u2062 Big Tech. Several states, including California, \u2062New\u2063 York, and Texas, proposed their \u200cown legislation to regulate tech giants operating\u2062 within their jurisdictions. However, these efforts were met with \u2064legal challenges from the tech companies themselves, who argued that\u2063 state laws \u200dwould create a patchwork\u200d regulatory\u200c framework and hinder interstate commerce. Courts sided with the tech companies, ruling \u200cthat federal law preempted state regulation in this area. Consequently, state governments faced limited options in \u2062regulating the tech giants within \u200ctheir\u2062 borders.<\/p>\n<p>The judicial branch also played a \u200dsignificant role in hindering government efforts \u200dto rein in \u200cBig\u200b Tech. \u2064Antitrust lawsuits against major tech companies, such as Facebook and Google, faced legal hurdles as courts\u200d grappled with defining the boundaries of monopolistic \u200bbehavior in the digital age.\u200b Additionally, \u200bcourts were reluctant to break up these companies due to concerns over the potential disruption to the economy and the lack of established \u2063legal precedent in this area.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, the year 2023 proved to be a challenging one for federal and\u2063 state governments in their efforts to rein in the\u200b power and growth\u2064 of Big Tech. Despite \u2064bipartisan support for regulation, legislative and\u200b judicial obstacles, along with \u200dfierce opposition from industry leaders, hindered most attempts. As Big Tech \u200bcompanies continue \u200cto dominate various\u200d sectors of\u2062 the economy, finding\u2063 a balance between innovation,\u2063 free\u200d speech, and consumer protection remains a complex task for governments around the world. The struggle to rein in Big Tech is likely \u2063to continue in the years to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2023, government officials at federal and state levels faced challenges in curbing the power and growth of Big Tech. Meta, Google, and Apple, major players in social media, advertising, media, and public attention, held significant market shares. Their cultural dominance garnered support from various factions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2132685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2132684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"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\/2132684","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=2132684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2132684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2132685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2132684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2132684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2132684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}