The Hill: Four major tech issues facing the Biden administration

November 11, 2020 Media

President-elect Joe Biden will face a vastly different tech landscape in January than the one he interacted with just four years ago as vice president.

While he enjoys overwhelming support in the tech industry, a return to the rosy D.C.-Silicon Valley relationship of the Obama-era is unlikely anytime soon.

Here are some of the biggest tech policy issues facing Biden and how his administration may approach them.

The Biden administration can turn to federal agencies such as the Department of Justice (DOJ) or Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to push through some of those antitrust changes, said Morgan Harper of the American Economic Liberties Project, an advocacy group focused on fighting monopolies and corporate power.

The DOJ filed a lawsuit against Google last month charging the company with illegally maintaining a monopoly on search and search advertising, teeing off a legal battle likely to take years.

The FTC is also reportedly set to bring charges against Facebook for antitrust violations by the end of the month.

Onlookers expect those efforts to move forward, with the potential for expansion.

“Staying the course would be the minimum expectation,” Harper said. “Hopefully those who are in charge of antitrust enforcement would view it as a priority to consider even broader investigations and lawsuits moving forward.”

While Biden may not intensify antitrust activity or back progressive proposals on the matter — he ran firmly to the right of anti-corporatist primary candidates like Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren(D-Mass.) — he seems unlikely to blunt existing momentum.