Biden Administration recruits Tim Wu, an anti-Big Tech advisor
posted Saturday Mar 6, 2021 by Scott Ertz
The Biden Administration is in the process of nominating and campaigning for confirmation to positions across the Federal government. However, not all positions require confirmation, and those tend to go to people who might not have a chance at confirmation. This could be because they have ruffled the feathers of those who confirmation they need, like Neera Tanden. Others may be because their ultimate goals go against the party. That is more where Tim Wu falls.
Tim Wu has been appointed to the National Economic Council (NEC), as a special assistant for technology and competition policy. His position within the administration suggests that the Biden Administration will be focusing on Big Tech in a big way. That's because Wu has a history of criticizing the industry, and has been vocal in his concern about the growing influence of the major tech companies, including Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. He was involved in the 2019 campaign to break up Facebook, which included the company's co-founder Chris Hughes.
Over the past few elections, tech companies both big and small, have put a lot of money into the Democratic Party in an attempt to curry favor with the party. Despite all of that money, it seems that the industry is no safer in their hands than in the hands of the Republicans, who have been distrustful of the Big Tech companies for years. In fact, many Democrats praised the appointment. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who has proposed an overhaul of antitrust law, said,
It is clear this administration is serious about promoting competition in the United States. America has a major monopoly problem that must be urgently addressed... I look forward to working with Tim to modernize antitrust enforcement, strengthen our economy, and protect workers and consumers.
It seems that, if there is one topic that both parties can agree upon, it is the distrust over the growing power of the Sith Lords. No, sorry - the growing power of the Big Tech companies.
