Big Tech Weekly e1, Two Big Tech Companies their Legal Dilemmas
- Cooper Baehr
- Oct 23, 2020
- 5 min read
FACEBOOK AND TWITTER SUBPOENA IN THE WORKS:
What Happened:
About a week ago, the New York Post published an article through Twitter about Joe Biden's Son, Hunter Biden regarding Ukraine. The story was blocked by Twitter and Facebook. The New York Post’s Twitter account locked, so they cannot publish anything else for the time being. This has sparked an enormous political argument including a possible subpoena in the middle of a supreme court nomination process.
Political Response:
In an interview with Fox News last week, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) said, “we have seen big tech, Twitter and Facebook, actively interfering in this election” and this is “[s]omething that has never happened before, The New York Post’s article, if true, would suggest that Joe Biden was dishonest when he said he had never discussed the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden, with officials in Ukraine. Following Twitter’s disabling of the New York Post’s account, which blocked the media outlet from sharing any articles on Twitter, others who attempted to share the story on Twitter or Facebook were blocked from doing so as well. According to Cision Media Research, the New York Post ranked fourth in daily circulation numbers in 2019, just behind USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.
After the interview with Fox, Ted Cruz later said that he and Senator Lindsay Graham (R-N.C.) had discussed this at length and that the Senate Judiciary Committee was working on a subpoena against Twitter and Facebook. He also said that Twitter was abusing their corporate power to silence the press and cover-up allegations of corruption. Three days later the Senate Judiciary Committee delayed the vote to subpoena Twitter and Facebook’s CEOs. Sen. Cruz says that he does expect Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, and Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter, whether they go to the hearing or refuse. It would be interesting to see how the CEOs of Facebook and Twitter, monopolies over social media, testify and defend themselves against senate Republicans and Democrats of the Senate Judiciary Committee. However, Twitter claims that the New York Post’s article was “against their policies,” involving what people are allowed to post, and more. More recently Senator Roger Wicker, the chair of the US Commerce Committee requested that Facebook and Twitter disclose any interactions they have had with both presidential candidates in a passive-aggressive letter to the CEOs. Some people in the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) are recommending that the FTC file an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook.
GOOGLE SUED BY UNITED STATES JUSTICE DEPARTMENT:
Google was recently sued by the US justice department along with 11 attorney generals for the states of, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina, and Texas for “illegally maintaining a monopoly over search engines and advertising.” Attorney General William Barr said, “Today, millions of Americans rely on the Internet and online platforms for their daily lives. Competition in this industry is vitally important, which is why today’s challenge against Google — the gatekeeper of the Internet — for violating antitrust laws is a monumental case both for the Department of Justice and for the American people. Since my confirmation, I have prioritized the Department’s review of online market-leading platforms to ensure that our technology industries remain competitive. This lawsuit strikes at the heart of Google’s grip over the internet for millions of American consumers, advertisers, small businesses, and entrepreneurs beholden to an unlawful monopolist.” Google is one of the biggest companies in the world, worth 1 Trillion dollars making this an enormous case that may take years to settle. The lawsuit itself which was filed yesterday said that they bring this action under Section 2 of the Sherman Act 15 U.S.C. § 2 to “restrain Google LLC (Google) from unlawfully maintaining monopolies in the markets of general search engines, search advertising, and general search text advertising in the United States through anticompetitive and exclusionary practices, and to remedy the effects of this conduct.” Later in the lawsuit, it mentions that a decade ago Google was an amazing way to search the internet but that Google is long gone. The full press release by the Department of Justice is 64 pages and can be found here. Google claims the DOJ’s (department of justice) lawsuit is “deeply flawed” and that it does “nothing to help consumers.” Google’s SVP of Global Affairs, Kent Walker wrote a lengthy blog post called “a deeply flawed lawsuit that would do nothing to help consumers.” The blog post gave many examples and photos of how Google DOESN’T maintain their monopoly illegally including images of Apple’s safari showing the options for search default. The options are Yahoo!, Bing, and Google, not just Google. Google also shows that you can change the search engine type to other products on android, not just Google. One part of the blog post says: “Yes, like countless other businesses, we pay to promote our services, just like a cereal brand might pay a supermarket to stock its products at the end of a row or on a shelf at eye level. For digital services, when you first buy a device, it has a kind of home screen “eye level shelf.” On mobile, that shelf is controlled by Apple, as well as companies like AT&T, Verizon, Samsung and LG. On desktop computers, that shelf space is overwhelmingly controlled by Microsoft.” That is an interesting comparison. Unlike Twitter and Facebook with their legal issues, Google went right out denouncing the Department of Justice and their lawsuit.
COMPARING THE TWO BIG TECH LEGAL ISSUES (OPINION)
Google, Twitter, and Facebook CEOs are all testifying before the US Commerce Committee on October 28th at 10:00 AM. The president and other Republicans have requested to repeal Section 230 which states that no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider. According to Fox News, “The section has been pivotal in the rise of today's social media giants by allowing not only Internet service providers – but also Google, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and others – to be shielded from liability from content posted on their platforms by third parties, in most cases.”
These are legal issues with huge companies worth trillions with billions of users. Apple and Amazon however have seemed to have escaped legal issues temporarily, but both of those companies may be sued or subpoenaed for whatever reason. If it’s interfering with the election or illegally maintaining a monopoly, everyone has their eyes on Big Tech.
Sources Cited:
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