Will either presidential candidate challenge Big Tech?
If I were a single-issue voter in 2024, I'd vote solely on how I felt the presidential candidates would handle antitrust cases against Big Tech, not because I think tech antitrust is America's greatest issue but because it's one of the few issues we have long-overdue positive momentum on.
Back in August, the Department of Justice (DOJ) scored a win when Google was declared an illegal monopolist on search. The world is still waiting for a ruling on remedies, which could call for fines or the complete breakup of Google.
If you're hoping to see Google broken up, there are reasons for concern. Donors are pressuring Kamala Harris to replace Lena Khan as head of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Khan has challenged Big Tech every chance she's gotten, and a few billionaires would love nothing more than to see her on the unemployment line. As of this writing, Harris has failed to voice support of Khan, so I'm not feeling too great about maintaining this momentum against Big Tech if Harris is the next president of the United States of America.
But what about Donald Trump?
On a recent episode of The Tim Dillon Show, JD Vance (Trump's running mate) said he thought Google should be broken up. Vance also claimed the suit against Google started under the Trump administration, a claim I'm not so sure about—but it's interesting to hear the crypto bro push the narrative, whether it's true or not.
NOTE: I'm not trying to call Vance a liar, but I couldn't find evidence the suit started under the Trump administration with a quick Google search. (Oh, the irony.) If you have a source to verify Vance's claim, please send it to me.
Vance's remarks first gave me reason to think there's a chance the heat may stay on Big Tech if Trump wins the election. That's more than I can say for Harris, who is known as being friendly with Big Tech.
But . . .
You can't ignore the drama of the Washington Post's refusal to endorse either presidential candidate, an order which appears to have come from Jeff Bezos himself. Bezos claims it's purely coincidence that executives of Blue Ocean had recently met with Trump. I'll let you decide how to feel about that.
The Washington Post was expected to endorse Harris, so you can't blame people for thinking something smells fishy. The LA Times also refused to endorse either candidate, but I'm unsure if their refusal was due to any ties with Big Tech. Even though Bezos is 'officially' retired from Amazon, I imagine most of his wealth is still tied up in the company he founded, so he's obviously still interested in its continued success.
Is letting a breakup of Google go through as good as it gets under a Trump presidency? Worse yet, is it possible Vance truly feels Google should be broken up but Trump may disagree or may simply have other concerns? The possibility of a presidential administration killing such momentum echoes the antitrust case against Microsoft in the late '90s, when the incoming Bush administration declined to pursue a breakup of the tech monopolist and instead let the company walk away with some fines and restrictions which eventually expired.
Depending on your politics, you may have your own reasons to be excited for either candidate. The point of this post is not to be overly political, though it is political in nature. The point is to look at the politics as they relate to tech. And when viewing the candidates purely from the lens of their effects on the tech industry, I'm unsure there's reason to feel great about either option.
