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Bill Russo, Biden’s deputy campaign communications director, lashed out at Facebook on Monday
A top aide to the president-elect, Joe Biden, accused Facebook of “ripping apart the fabric of our democracy” in the latest sign that the Democratic administration may be tougher on big technology than Republican President Donald Trump.
Bill Russo, Biden’s deputy director of campaign communications, lashed out at Facebook in a series of tweets on Monday night, criticizing the company led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg for allowing what he called “debunked conspiracy theories.”
If you thought disinformation on Facebook was a problem during our elections, wait until you see how it’s tearing apart the fabric of our democracy in the days after. Look what happened in the last week, ” Russo said, going on to list examples that he said showed Facebook was too slow to remove some dangerous right-wing content.
While Trump has spoken out harshly about tougher regulations on big tech, accusing social media platforms of censoring conservatives, his administration has taken little concrete action.
Russo’s tweets are among a series of signs that a Biden administration will take a tougher line, following the opposite complaint from Democrats that social media companies don’t remove enough material they consider questionable.
Russo criticized the company led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg (above) for allowing what he called ‘debunked conspiracy theories’
Russo’s tweets are among a series of signs that a Biden administration will take a harder line on big-tech issues, after Trump spoke out but took few concrete steps.
While Biden will be able to wield the regulatory power of the executive branch, much of his administration’s ability to enact sweeping new changes will depend on whether Republicans retain control of the Senate, an issue that now comes down to two runoff elections in Georgia. .
In his tweets, Russo cited a number of examples of alleged Facebook failures, including the 10 hours it took for the company to remove a video of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon calling for the ‘beheading’ of FBI Director Chris Wray and Dr. Anthony Fauci.
He also insisted that Facebook should have blocked the distribution of articles from the right-wing site Breitbart for spreading allegations of voter fraud, which Russo called “discredited conspiracy theories.”
Major US media outlets projected Biden as the winner of the presidential election on Saturday, but Trump has refused to budge, citing widespread electoral fraud, without evidence.
“While Twitter disabled the sharing of information about Trump’s election misinformation, Facebook continued to actively promote posts on feeds,” Russo wrote.
‘We knew this would happen. We begged Facebook for more than a year to take these issues seriously. They have not. Our democracy is at stake. We need answers, ‘he continued.
Russo shared this Facebook post as an example of the type of content that he accused Facebook of not removing fast enough.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, a Facebook spokesperson responded to Russo’s complaint, saying: ‘In the run-up to this election, we announced new products and policies to reduce the spread of misinformation and the potential for confusion or civil unrest. ‘.
“We built the largest third-party fact-checking network of any platform and they remain actively focused on election claims, including conspiracy theories,” the statement added.
“ We changed our products to make sure fewer people see and know about false information when they do, and we highlight trustworthy election information where almost everyone on Facebook and Instagram saw Vice President Biden as the projected winner of the US election. the spokesman said.
Trump and other conservatives have harshly criticized some tech companies for allegedly stifling conservative voices, a concern that Biden’s team will not share.
However, both parties have expressed interest in removing protections under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects social media companies from liability for content posted by users.
Biden told The New York Times in January that he wanted to repeal Section 230.
‘It should be revoked because [Facebook] It is not simply an Internet company, ”he said. “They are spreading falsehoods that they know to be false.”
Democrats seem to believe repealing Section 230 would prompt social media companies to increase their moderation of any questionable content, while Republicans want to condition protections on political neutrality, hoping to force platforms to treat content. left and right alike. .
Experts expect the Biden administration to take a hard line against big tech on multiple fronts, including the fledgling US Department of Justice antitrust case against Google.
William Kovacic, an antitrust professor at George Washington University School of Law, said he hopes Biden’s Justice Department will do one of two things: support the case as-is or amend the complaint to add new claims.
“What they won’t do is drop this case,” Kovacic predicted.
The Justice Department alleges in a complaint that Google violated antitrust law to maintain its dominance in search and search-based advertising. Google has denied the wrongdoing.
Last month, Russo said a Biden administration would work closely on big-tech issues with Rep. David Cicilline, whose House panel produced a report that accused Google of using aggressive business tactics to thwart its competitors. search.
Russo added that a Biden administration would be committed to doing “much more to ensure that excessive market power anywhere … is not hurting America’s families and workers.”
In May, Biden told the Associated Press that the Big Tech breakup “is something we should look at very carefully.”
Supporters of President Trump organize a ‘Stop the Steal’ in Pensacola, Florida, on Sunday. Russo attacked Facebook for not closing the movement’s pages fast enough
Herbert Hovenkamp, who teaches antitrust at the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law, said he expects the federal lawsuit, which focuses narrowly on Google’s dominance in online search and search advertising, to expand. under Biden, saying, ‘The wisest thing to do is bring in as many counts as possible.
A case with the aim of holding a company accountable for various anti-competitive acts would allow prosecutors to request a more meaningful remedy with a greater impact on Google.
A Biden administration would not need to look far at expanding its demand.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a veteran of President Barack Obama’s Justice Department, leads a bipartisan group of states looking at “the full scope of Google’s activity,” according to a source familiar with the investigation.
This means Colorado could be looking into other aspects of Google’s business, such as allegations that Google uses its popular search feature to favor large advertisers and their products, such as YouTube.
Weiser and other state attorneys general on Tuesday praised the “good working relationship with the Justice Department on these serious issues” and said their investigation would be finalized “in the next few weeks.”
“If we decided to file a complaint, we would file a motion to consolidate our case with the Department of Justice,” they said. The group includes Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah.
To be sure, it’s also possible that Biden’s team is willing to consider reaching a deal with Google – something that there is no sign the Trump administration has tried to do, but only if they can come up with tough solutions.
“I’m not predicting a deal, but I’m saying that the deal becomes much more possible,” said Seth Bloom of Bloom Strategic Counsel.
Settlement options may include Google accepting search nondiscrimination or ending its insistence that Google products like Chrome be pre-installed on Android smartphones in exchange for access to the Google Play Store.
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