(Bloomberg) — Senator Elizabeth Warren said Elon Musk’s deal to take over Twitter demonstrated the need for “serious regulation for Big Tech.”
“It’s dangerous because one billionaire decides how millions of people will have an opportunity to communicate with each other,” Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat and prominent progressive, told reporters on Capitol Hill Monday evening, hours after Musk agreed to buy the social media platform for $44 billion.
Regulation of technology giants is essential, Warren said, “because it’s about concentration of power. And concentration of power means less competition, and ultimately means just one or a handful of people are deciding who talks, who gets heard and who gets shut down.”
Members of both parties have long demanded greater supervision of the technology giants, and the Biden administration has been considering antitrust action. A bipartisan bill advanced by Senators Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, and Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, is intended to curb the dominance of Apple Inc., Amazon Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google.
“There is some power that the administration could use, but Congress should act to strengthen it,” Warren said. “Tech is creating a whole new set of conflicts that Congress needs to attack directly.”
Many Republicans, however, expressed delight that Musk could soon be running Twitter.
Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, told reporters Monday that he hoped Musk’s purchase of the company would increase users’ exposure to opposing viewpoints.
“I believe in free speech,” the Texas Republican said. “Big Tech engages in active censorship, and Elon Musk’s buying Twitter returns us to how social media used to be, which is you win an argument based on the strength of your argument, not on a Silicon Valley billionaire silencing your opponents.”
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