Michael K. Spencer
What if we lived in a more ethical version of techno-capitalism? What would that feel like in a more regulated internet?
Elizabeth Warren says she wants to break up big tech companies including Amazon, Google, and Facebook. Think about it.
Warren’s plan includes a call for “platform neutrality” — banning tech giants from both providing a marketplace and selling their product on the same marketplace — and the appointment of new regulators that would undo mergers between massive tech companies. She argues that these mergers smother competition and undermine democracy.
“That means we break Facebook away from Instagram and WhatsApp, Amazon away from Whole Foods, Google away from Nest, and more,” Warren wrote in a campaign email.
Separating the likes of Instagram and WhatsApp from Facebook
YouTube, Nest and Waymo from Google
AWS from Amazon, and so forth.
This ironically is the exact opposite of what Mark Zuckerberg proposes to do with his centralization of all messaging.
Why Platform Neutrality is so Important
This is such an important issue for anti-trust violation regulation and anti-monopoly control of the future of technology to stimulate real innovation and not only among the same market leaders.
Several democratic 2020 candidates appear skeptical of large tech companies including Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren unveils a plan to break up big technology companies like Amazon, Facebook and Google.
Her proposal is the most specific one put forth so far in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary to limit Silicon Valley.
The plan also bars companies from sharing users’ data with third parties.
I think for democratic Millennials this is a point that’s gaining momentum as the economy and wealth inequality happens to be a key issue for the 2020 elections.
“I want a government that makes sure everybody — even the biggest and most powerful companies in America — plays by the rules,” Warren said in a statement to the New York Times. “To do that, we need to stop this generation of big tech companies from throwing around their political power to shape the rules in their favor and throwing around their economic power to snuff out or buy up every potential competitor.” — Elizabeth Warren
How would it work?
The proposal would impose new regulations on two tiers of companies: those worth more than annual global revenue of $25 billion or higher, and those with revenue between $90 million and $25 billion.
She essentially said on Women’s day 2019 that, if elected president in 2020, her (Elizabeth Warren) administration will break up the giants of the tech industry, including Amazon, Facebook, and Google.
As an advocate of the regulation of Big Tech, this is something that makes sense for a more ethical capitalism to ensure that wealth inequality won’t deteriorate the middle class further.
As the Verge notes, the proposal is the most stringent and clear stance taken by a candidate in the presidential campaign so far. Warren, pointing to the antitrust battle over Microsoft in the 1990s, said the companies must be broken up to stimulate competition in a monopolistic market. Her position is widely held among young people who face more economic uncertainty than ever including a significant lack of women in positions of leadership in technology, venture capitalism and corporate boards.
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