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Matt Stoller Profile picture
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23 Feb, 4 tweets, 2 min read
Dems in Arizona were bought off by Apple. Very ugly situation.
Wow Democrat @CharleneforAZ read off talking points praising the security of the iPhone and app store. There's a serious problem with progressive legislators doing whatever big tech wants. azleg.gov/videoplayer/?c…
It's amazing to see progressives @CesarChavezAZ straight up going libertarian in Arizona. The legislature, he said, shouldn't get involved in disputes between private businesses. And let's not use the term monopoly.

Chavez praises ALEC and the Goldwater institute!
In the Arizona hearing on app stores, a progressive Dem named Cesar Chavez attacked gov't getting involved in private business, praised ALEC and the Goldwater Institute. Meanwhile GOP reps attacked Apple's monopoly. Bill passed out of committee 7-6, all but one Dems voted no.

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More from @matthewstoller

Matt Stoller Profile picture
22 Feb
"The proposal calls for platforms to pay into a trust fund, which would in turn pay for news organizations to establish robust fact-checking services."

Nightmare idea. Let's address no actual problems but create lots of new ones!
A lot of media reformers are ripping off the mask and asserting they just don't want private media outlets anymore. Their view is newsgathering should be financed and fact-checked by the government.
As @RrjohnR has written extensively, advertising has been a key mechanism to prevent the control of private media by the state since the early 1800s. Are people really that naive they imagine media that is nearly all state-funded will be a check on state power?
Read 4 tweets
Matt Stoller Profile picture
21 Feb
1. This kind of response to the Australian law reminds me of John Perry Barlow and the Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace, written at Davos in 1996. eff.org/cyberspace-ind…
2. Here's Barlow: "Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. You have neither solicited nor received ours. We did not invite you. You do not know us, nor do you know our world. Cyberspace does not lie within your borders."
3. This is the problem the Australian government is addressing. It is a crisis. And the response from tech journalists is mostly, 'how dare this government act to impose its will?!?' Highly ideological and highly anti-democratic.
Read 17 tweets
Matt Stoller Profile picture
19 Feb
1. Here's my summary of what the Australian media law does. It is not a 'link tax.' First, the bill is one result of a multi-year extremely in-depth investigation by highly respected Australian Competition and Consumer Commission head Rod Sims. mattstoller.substack.com/p/australia-st…
2. The important part is to recognize that the law only applies to digital platforms who are dominant and have a bargaining imbalance with media outlets. It is an anti-monopoly law. This graph shows the monopoly problem.
3. The bill says that the only platforms who have to bargain with publishers are those who have a "significant bargaining imbalance." And both sides must engage in good faith bargaining, recognizing the value the platform and the publisher provide. parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/downl…
Read 13 tweets
Matt Stoller Profile picture
17 Feb
Facebook just blocked the sharing of news in Australia. about.fb.com/news/2021/02/c…
Facebook has also banned the ENTIRE WORLD from getting Australian news content. Holy shit.
This is the Australian competition commission's report on how dominant Facebook is wrt display ads.
Read 7 tweets
Matt Stoller Profile picture
14 Feb
1. What happens if Congress repeals Section 230? It's a big question and no one knows the answer. Here's my guess. Section 230 lets firms avoid dealing with harm they cause by monetizing data and third party content. Social pollution would began to carry a cost to the polluter.
2. For most firm, nothing would change. Most firms don't use data to harm customers. For big firms who monetize data and have large third party user bases, they'd have to buy insurance and pay a little more attention to harm they might cause. Online products would get safer.
3. Product liability, harassment and negligence, defamation - all standard legal claims - would reemerge, and firms like Grindr and Facebook would have to stop knowingly letting people use their product for harassment and fraud.
Read 6 tweets
Matt Stoller Profile picture
12 Feb
1. One of the best changes in recent years is the GOP abandoning libertarianism. Here's GOP Rep. Greg Steube: “I do think there is an appetite amongst Republicans, if the Dems wanted to try to break up Big Tech, I think there is support for that." washingtonexaminer.com/news/house-rep…
2. And @RepKenBuck, who offered a thoughtful Third Way report on antitrust law in 2020, weighed in quite reasonably on Biden antitrust frameworks. politico.com/news/2021/01/2…
3. I believe this change is sincere because it's so pervasive and beginning to result in real policy changes. Example: The North Dakota GOP is taking on Apple's app store.
Read 12 tweets

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