Pelosi: Era Of Big Tech Self-Regulation Should Be Over

Something else that Democrats want to fully control at the federal level?

Nancy Pelosi Says Tech’s ‘Era Of Self-Regulation’ Should ‘Probably’ Be Over

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) appears to be open to further regulation of big tech companies.

Speaking on journalist Kara Swisher’s “Recode Decode” podcast in an episode released Friday, Pelosi pointed to the U.K., where “they’ve said the era of self-regulation of these companies is over.”

Asked if she thought it was over in the U.S. too, the congresswoman for San Francisco ― the home of major tech companies like Twitter and Uber and to workers for Facebook, Google and others headquartered in nearby Silicon Valley ― said “it probably should be.”

“I think we have to subject it all to scrutiny and cost-benefits and all that, but I do think that it’s a new era,” she said on the podcast.

Major tech companies have come under increased scrutiny in recent years. Amazon has been criticized for tax benefits some see as unfair and for having its low-wage warehouse employees work long hours for little pay, all while fighting their efforts to unionize.

Uber has faced several drivers’ strikes, most recently in Los Angeles, for cutting drivers’ pay per mile ― all while drivers are categorized as contractors rather than employees, preventing them from unionizing or receiving benefits like health care or 401(k) retirement funds.

Facebook and Twitter have also notably come under fire for not doing enough to manage the spread of hate and misinformation on their platforms, and Facebook has experienced a seemingly endless series of privacy snafus.

Yes, they have a lot of power and a lot of problems. But, before you slam Pelosi, consider that many Conservatives have been slamming these same companies, and have even called for breaking them up, much like Elizabeth Warren has recommended.

Pelosi also spoke of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act ― a provision that gives online intermediaries like Google, YouTube and Reddit immunity from liability for any third-party content posted to or hosted on their platforms.

“[Section] 230 is a gift to them … and I don’t think they are treating it with the respect that they should,” Pelosi said of tech companies. “And so I think that that could be a question mark and in jeopardy.”

“They just love 230,” she added. “For the privilege of 230, there has to be a bigger sense of responsibility on it, and it is not out of the question that that could be removed.”

The threat is that if these companies do not toe the Democrat line even more they could end up having the Federal government come after them. This is a dangerous precedent, dangerous speech, where companies could pay the price for Wrongthink in allowing opponents of Democrats to have a free say. These tech companies may lean Liberal, but, do you want massive regulation by the government? Because your individual usage could be next.