Fox News today reported that the White House is circulating a draft Executive Order to police the social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. In listening to the terms of the draft, they seem to be focusing on anti-competitive behavior, perhaps using the Justice or Commerce Departments to enforce any monopoly practices. It really sounds to me like it goes completely against the Republican approach to net neutrality. They're saying these platforms have grown too big (and they're including Amazon in the order, even though it isn't a social media platform).
They want to use the power of the federal government to reign in these internet companies, many of which are now among the most profitable businesses in the country. It sounds very much like a typical liberal Democrat approach to regulation, stifling big business rather than promoting it. The reason is not that the companies are profitable, but that they perceive some kind of political bias. Still, they set themselves up for this by defeating net neutrality, and giving unlimited power to ISPs. It sounds like it will be a hard rule to enforce, because they target Google, while don't mention Yahoo or Microsoft. Microsoft offers a search engine that competes against Google, and so far, it hasn't been targeted for political bias.
They're also trying to focus on anti-competitive behavior rather than content bias in an attempt to skirt first amendment issues. Still it will place traditional Republicans in a difficult place, because they are usually the party of big business.
They want to use the power of the federal government to reign in these internet companies, many of which are now among the most profitable businesses in the country. It sounds very much like a typical liberal Democrat approach to regulation, stifling big business rather than promoting it. The reason is not that the companies are profitable, but that they perceive some kind of political bias. Still, they set themselves up for this by defeating net neutrality, and giving unlimited power to ISPs. It sounds like it will be a hard rule to enforce, because they target Google, while don't mention Yahoo or Microsoft. Microsoft offers a search engine that competes against Google, and so far, it hasn't been targeted for political bias.
They're also trying to focus on anti-competitive behavior rather than content bias in an attempt to skirt first amendment issues. Still it will place traditional Republicans in a difficult place, because they are usually the party of big business.
