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WASHINGTON DC: Silicon Valley welcomes the election of Joe Biden as president of the United States, even as it prepares for a series of battles over technology policy in Washington DC.
The transition comes amid a growing “techlash” as lawmakers and legislators fight over antitrust enforcement, social media regulation, immigration and other contentious issues.
“Tech companies are happy with the result, but there is also some concern,” said Bob O’Donnell, analyst at Technalysis Research.
O’Donnell said scrutiny from the tech giants will likely continue or even intensify in Washington, DC, regardless of which party is in power.
Darrell West of the Brookings Institution’s Center for Technology Innovation said that “both Republicans and Democrats have complaints about how the industry is operating and there is going to be more oversight and regulation.”
Nonetheless, they praised Biden after his victory by key technology leaders, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Microsoft president Brad Smith, and Facebook number two Sheryl Sandberg.
Many progressives have pushed for an aggressive stance over concerns that Silicon Valley companies have become too powerful, leading to greater economic inequality.
At the same time, Biden’s campaign has cultivated ties with current and former tech personalities; and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris has ties to the industry, including her friend Sandberg from Facebook and her brother-in-law Tony West, Uber’s chief legal officer.
These are the technology problems the Biden administration is likely to face:
Antitrust
Potentially the biggest threat to the industry is antitrust, specifically the idea voiced by some Democrats to split up the largest tech firms.
“Companies like Apple, Google and Facebook are going to have a worse time,” said Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy.
While it would take a long effort to break up the major companies, the administration could target Google’s control of digital advertising with a view to making that market more competitive, Moorhead said, or target the 30% commission from Apple for its online App Store.
Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, said he expects “enormous pressure” in this area because “the left wing of the Democratic Party has made antitrust a central pillar of its agenda,” but that breakdowns are rare. likely unless Congress reviews relevant laws.
Internet regulation
The transition comes amid an intense debate in Washington DC over internet regulations, including social media responsibility and online privacy.
The most controversial seems to be the Section 230 law, which protects online services from liability for content posted by others. This has been a goal of both the left and the right, even as digital rights activists warn that it is the cornerstone of free speech online.
Biden has said that Section 230 should be “repealed,” but has not offered details of any plans to reform the law.
Atkinson said Biden’s comments are “more campaign words than anything else” and he doesn’t expect an aggressive push to repeal the law given its critical importance to the internet.
Biden is expected to reverse the course of the Trump administration by supporting net neutrality, which would require Internet providers to allow access to all services without discrimination or unfair fees.
His administration will also face choices about online privacy and law enforcement access to encrypted content, the main points of contention between Washington DC and Silicon Valley.
Biden’s advisers have voiced support for “European-style privacy legislation” to govern how tech companies use personal data, but they will likely face challenges with a Republican majority in the Senate, according to Atkinson.
Immigration
Biden has signaled that he will overturn Trump’s orders limiting visas for skilled workers sought by tech companies, a huge victory for Big Tech.
“Biden will be a lot better for highly skilled immigration and that’s something that tech companies really like,” Atkinson said.
Moorhead said the tech industry will likely “find it easier to get qualified employees from overseas with fewer hurdles,” but that Biden “must be careful not to frame it in a way that’s contrary to American jobs.”
Trade, China
Biden is likely to reverse Trump’s decision to “unlink” the economies of the United States and China, which will come as a relief to the increasingly intertwined tech sectors of the two countries, Atkinson said.
He added that Biden’s team includes “foreign policy traditionalists,” who will look at human rights and strategic interests alongside economic factors, allowing companies like Apple to prosper with operations in both countries.
Others noted that Biden could be forced to make national security decisions that could enrage Beijing and impact companies like TikTok, which have been targeted by Trump.
“My feeling is that Biden will continue to be tough on China,” O’Donnell said.
“Hopefully I can do it in a more productive way. We cannot ignore the fact that we are in a global economy and there is a lot of dependency between the two nations.” – AFP
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