Opinion: Big Tech doesn’t favor Republicans or Democrats, just the bottom line

Our car stopped at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and we jumped. It was the kind of June to DC which was in the shade but warmer than hell without him. The breeze was encouraging, so Laura Marquez Garrett (LMG) – a lawyer who uses pronouns – and I walked around the corner and I found a bench nearby. We were waiting outside the FTC as its workshop, “the economy of attention: how large technological companies exploit children and injured families”, took place inside. We registered in the workshop, but we decided at the last minute not to go there.

There were many reasons for which we decided not to attend, the principal being internal documents showing plans for a different FTC workshop pushing anti-transgender rhetoric. It is difficult to see the FTC as the non -partisan consumer protection agency that it is supposed to be. In addition, during the “Wait the economy” workshop, the FTC chose to Exclude pro-industrial industry And defenders of the free market market, suggesting that one of the largest consumer protection mechanisms in our country could lose sight of its objective.

Americans do not like censorship, and it is dangerously close, especially since companies like Meta, Snapchat, Tiktok, Google or Apple were not being part of the features in the Big Tech workshop. Freedom of expression prosperous in the opening. The danger is not when the industry or dissident voices speak publicly – it is when they operate in the shadows, in error the legislators behind closed doors. We need companies to assert their cause in the public square, where their arguments can be disputed. The fact of not having large technological representatives during the workshop only makes machinations underground, where control disappears.

While we were sitting outside the FTC, our conversation turned to the difficulty of pursuing a goal that many consider it impossible – keeping children online safety – while working with an administration that often seems to invalidate the existence of trans lives like mine. We talked about the discipline that it takes to keep this Bipartisan job. This bipartite is essential because at the moment, the only winners of our blocked political system are companies like Meta, Apple and Snap Inc., while parents and children continue to lose.

This is not a new idea. Ralph Nader wrote Unstoppable About the way in which straight coalitions can lead to a real change. The division is not only a victory for certain technological companies – it is their strategy. A paralyzed democracy cannot adopt significant legislation.

Make a real change

The last session of the most eminent children’s online security legislation was the Kids Online Safety Act (Kosa), which would have confirmed an obligation of diligence for social media platforms in its design. In response to the proposed legislation, social media companies said it would lead to censorship and refusal of precious resources to the LGBTQ + community. Even if the strength of the bill is obvious in the bipartite negotiations which led to its adoption 91-3 in the Senate, these vulnerable communities were still afraid. Events such as the FTC anti-Trans workshop do not strengthen these fears.

Inside the “Eathyl Economy” workshop of the FTC that we jumped, the event focused on “conservative family values” and aggressive partisanry. Lauren Finer of the penis wrote“The Republicans are redesigning the Internet” and that the invited programming could be a “targeted message on the very people who had previously had the path of children’s online security reform: republican colleagues”.

But the Republicans did not killed Kosa. Big Tech did it.

When Kosa failed to vote in the House of Representatives in September of last year, LMG said Bloomberg It was a question of “choosing the money of technology compared to children”. This same article has shown bipartite frustration with the great technological lobbyists in misleading convention aid. “Technological companies do everything they can to play on both sides,” said Jon Schweppe of the Conservative American Principles Project.

The war against the festive lines only hurt the children. Big Tech does not see Democrats or Republicans – just people in power who can help them enjoy. In Colorado, the Democratic Governor Jared Polis, a former technological entrepreneur, opposed his veto to SB25-086, a bill to protect children from online predators. Big Tech then used groups of firearms lobbies to return just enough republicans to Block a replacement.

Big Tech wants us to believe that cooperation is dead. But this is not the case. The Senate 91-3 vote on Kosa proves it. The same goes for the bipartite efforts of the Senators Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal, Josh Hawley and Ed Markey, Lindsey Graham and Amy Klobuchar. The leaders on both sides met to challenge the uncontrolled power of Big Tech. They debated, modified and compromised – all to adopt a bill that could save lives.

We cannot leave these companies fracturing this fragile progress. The issues are too high.

Back on the hot day at DC, Jennie Deserio And Amy Neville Rounded in the corner near LMG and I. Jennie and Amy are two parents on the opposite sides of the political aisle, united in sorrow and the goal. Jennie lost her son, Mason, after being targeted with suicide content on Tiktok. Amy lost her son, Alexander, to a counterfeit pill sold on Snapchat. The mothers had just come from the FTC workshop that we chose not to attend.

Parents like Jennie and Amy, and defenders like LMG and I work with improbable allies to protect children online. Bipartite is not dead – but it is suspended by a thread. If we want to prevent children from dying in the hands of Big Tech, we must all remain concentrated and disciplined. We all have to prioritize the safety of children by design and not confuse this fundamental problem with those designed to distract and divide. All those who care about children deserve a seat at the table.

If we are asked to introduce themselves and do the work to protect all children online – and do it without harming any of them – we will. The question is whether this administration will use the FTC to hold the large responsible technologies or to target the very people who fight to survive. If he chooses the first, we can bring a real and lasting change.

Lennon Torres is a member of the public on the prevention of sexual abuse on children with the OPED project. She is an LGBTQ + lawyer who grew up in the eyes of the public, gaining national recognition as a young dancer in television shows. With a deep passion for narration, advocacy and politics, Lennon now strives to focus the lived experience of herself and others as she manufactures her professional career in the safety of online children to Heat initiative. This column reflects the author’s opinion.

Laura Marquez-Garrett is a parent who also happens to be a lawyer. They graduated from the Harvard Law School in 2002, then spent twenty years building a successful litigation practice in great right with a specialization in electronic evidence and in forensic investigation. In February 2022, Laura left the local office to join a business focused solely on the problems of technological harm and business responsibility. They now contribute in all possible ways to the objective of change and hold social media societies responsible for damage based on children and families. This column reflects the author’s opinion.