Democrats are bitterly split over a key policy question, which is whether to break the power of the tech monopolists. washingtonpost.com/powerpost/emer…
LA Mayor and possible Presidential candidate Eric Garcetti, asked about concentration in tech: "I don't fear it and I don't oppose it. I want to try to help guide it."
Schumer: “Facebook is a very powerful force,” he said. “I think, overall, it’s been a very positive force and now people are taking advantage of the openness of the net. And Facebook has an obligation to try and deal with it.”
Booker: ““This consolidation that’s happening all over the country is not a positive trend,” said Booker, a powerful lawmaker. "I think the U.S. government absolutely should take a look at Google.” recode.net/2017/7/20/1600…
Bernie.
Elizabeth Warren, two years ago. recode.net/2016/6/29/1206…
Dem Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren: “I would note that when the travel ban went into effect and people all over the country went to airports to protest, one of those who were there was the co-founder of Google, Sergey Brin." theintercept.com/2017/11/28/joh…
Dem mega-funder Reid Hoffman. “How can we take scale-up expertise from Silicon Valley to create platforms that make American democracy more robust, so that after 2020, we are resilient against fake news, we are voting at high levels [and] we are voting in an enlightened way?”
The split runs deep. Nancy Pelosi's ex-chief of staff, Caitlin O'Neill, is a key lobbyist for Facebook. She's also the granddaughter of 1980s Dem House Speaker Tip O'Neill. adweek.com/digital/caitli…
This isn't the only split in the Democratic Party, but it is a big one. It is only going to widen as Silicon Valley eats more and more of the economy. Some key figures, like Kamala Harris, want this dispute to go away. It isn't going away. Dems are going to have to pick sides.
This is the thinking behind some of the pro-tech Democrats. They think, as they did about banking power from the 1980s to 2008, that tech monopolists are a source of funding and power, that they don't pollute, and that they are culturally progressive.
