Search results for "big tech"

Break them up? 5 ways Congress is trying to rein in Big Tech

Groundbreaking legislation is advancing in Congress that would curb the market power of tech giants Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple and could force them to untie their dominant platforms from their other lines of business. Hostility toward Big Tech has grown in recent years with the belief that its size and swagger have stifled competition, […]

From Biden to Congress, Big Tech is under mounting pressure

Without speaking a word or scratching a pen across paper, President Joe Biden drove up the pressure on Big Tech companies already smarting under federal and congressional investigations, epic antitrust lawsuits and near-constant condemnation from politicians of both parties. Biden last week elevated a fierce critic of Big Tech, antitrust legal scholar Lina Khan, to […]

How Big Tech created a data 'treasure trove' for police

When U.S. law enforcement officials need to cast a wide net for information, they’re increasingly turning to the vast digital ponds of personal data created by Big Tech companies via the devices and online services that have hooked billions of people around the world. Data compiled by four of the biggest tech companies shows that […]

Big Tech companies form coalition to fight semiconductor shortages

Several of the world’s largest tech companies including Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google have teamed up with chipmakers such as Intel to announce the formation of a new lobbying group to pressure the U.S. government for chip manufacturing subsidies. The lobbying group – dubbed the Semiconductor in America Coalition (SIAC) – have called on congressional […]

UK launches new tech watchdog to boost competition against Big Tech

The UK government launched on Wednesday a new tech watchdog that will help make sure tech giants, such as Facebook and Google, cannot exploit their market dominance to crowd out competition and stifle innovation. The Digital Markets Unit (DMU), based in the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), will oversee plans to give consumers more choice […]

Big Tech's outsized influence draws state-level pushback

New York state Sen. Michael Gianaris was ecstatic when Amazon named Long Island City in 2018 as a front-runner for its new headquarters, a project that would bring 25,000 jobs and $2.5 billion in construction spending to his district in Queens. But his support faded quickly when he learned that state and city leaders had […]

Lawmakers press Big Tech CEOs on speech responsibility

The CEOs of tech giants Facebook, Twitter and Google faced a grilling in Congress Thursday as lawmakers tried to draw them into acknowledging their companies’ roles in fueling the January insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and rising COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. In a hearing by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, lawmakers pounded Facebook CEO Mark […]

White House legal official Tim Wu will put Big Tech under scrutiny

On Feb.  4, Tim Wu, prominent, progressive attorney, sent his last tweet as a private citizen; the next day, the White House announced its decision to place Wu in the National Economic Council (NEC), one of two key advisory boards to President Joe Biden. While Wu has been on board over a month, none of […]

Debate heats up over how countries tax Big Tech companies

An international debate over how countries tax big U.S. technology companies such as Google, Amazon and Facebook is heating up, presenting a challenge for President Joe Biden’s new administration. A mid-year deadline is on the horizon for talks about a global deal to defuse trade disputes with France and other countries that are imposing go-it-alone […]

Analysis: Biden to take a tough stance on Big Tech policy

Many of Big Tech’s expected future regulatory challenges are a result of their own making – as in the case of Facebook, Google, and Amazon. These companies are being charged by some countries with monopolistic tendencies, prompting some of the regulators in states to send warnings to these firms so they can get their act […]