Stanford Politics

Big Tech was caught in the political headlights in 2020. As Americans migrated en masse to working at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our ultra-reliance on technology grew. Many of us spent hours working and studying at home, eyes fixated on our screens. We found entertainment on TikTok and Netflix. We relied on good internet connection for just about everything. And in the absence of community forums and meetings, we used social media to organize what may have been the largest movement in U.S. History. 

But above all, we (perhaps more than two-thirds of Americans) became little more skeptical, more wary—more anxious—of the impact that Big Tech companies were having on our lives. Our politics reflected this. COVID-19 contact tracing apps prompted a new barrage of attempts to enact data privacy legislation. The use of facial recognition technologies to prosecute protestors raised calls for bans on such technologies. Facebook and Google were sued for anti-competitive practices. In the face of the pandemic, blue-collar jobs were lost to automation, forcing politicians to think about the impact AI will have on the social safety net in the future. The pandemic and the 2020 election brought on new slew of misinformation, encouraging lawmakers to entertain repealing Big-Tech-protecting Section 230. And to top it all off, the U.S. suffered its worst cyber attack ever.

A new administration holds the promise of shaping preliminary regulation in the tech space. Let’s take a peek at what 2021 might have in store. 

Data Privacy

One of the most attainable pieces of reform heading into the new year is data privacy. Data privacy legislation quickly made its way onto the policy agendas of lawmakers from both parties in 2020, responding to growing concerns over the misuse and exploitation of user data.

 Seventy percent of Americans now favor major governmental role in addressing data privacy concerns and politicians from both sides of the aisle have proposed potential reforms. In fact, bills were considered in at least 30 different states as well as multiple bills in both federal chambers. 

Data privacy legislation will almost certainly come up again in 2021, and with bipartisan support and increased scrutiny of big tech companies, it’s likely that something will get passed. Whether that’s more of a set of guidelines and reinforcement of existing mechanisms, like Sen. Wyden’s Mind Your Own Business Act, or more of cohesive overhaul, like an attempt at a federal version of California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), remains to be decided.

President Biden has already signaled his intent to push through some form of data regulation. His former chief of staff, Bruce Reed, was one of the architects behind the CCPA and will very likely take major role in the new administration. The Obama-Biden White House also had a track record of advancing consumer privacy protections, including introducing the blueprint Privacy Bill of Rights in 2012, and pushing data transparency reforms. As senator, Vice-President Kamala Harris helped consumers report online services that violated their privacy. 

Anti-Trust

Antitrust became the weapon of choice for Big Tech regulators in 2020. Calls to break Big Tech conglomerates like Facebook, Google, and Amazon began to pick up steam in 2019, when the House Antitrust Subcommittee led by its Chairman Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) announced its new investigation into the digital giants. The results of the investigation, despite their varying interpretations, undoubtedly influenced official antitrust charges brought against Google and Facebook at the end of 2020. 

Unfortunately, antitrust suits come with their own challenges. To begin with, the lawsuits will likely take years to resolve, favoring Google and Facebook’s expansive legal resources over public prosecutors’. Secondly, a clean break up isn’t a likely outcome—in Facebook’s case, for example, the company has already moved to intertwine their three main platforms structurally.

With the support of Congress, the Biden administration can end the “rule of reason,” which convolutes what qualifies as anti-competitive practices, and replace it with brightline definitions of antitrust violations that use modern, practical vocabulary. On his own order, President Biden could expand the power of the Federal Trade Commission by reaffirming its jurisdiction, clarifying fair methods of competition, and arming the Commission with enforcement mechanisms such as lower violation thresholds and higher fines. 

Both options have at least some level of bipartisan support. If the enemy of the enemy is truly a friend, it’s possible both parties can find a common villain in Big Tech. 

Section 230

A lot has been made of Section 230, a protection in the Communications Decency Act that’s been used to shield social media companies from being held liable for content posted on their networks. Repealing Section 230 has garnered an extraordinary amount of attention in the past year—so much so that President Trump was holding December’s stimulus and Defense Authorization Act hostage in an attempt to tie Section 230 to the bills. 

Members from both parties are split on repealing the protection, balancing regulatory preferences, free speech, and the increasing dominance of social media companies. But President-Elect Biden, in what’s arguably a break from other mainstream Democrats, has been outright in considering revisiting and modifying Section 230. Last January, in an interview with the New York Times, Biden said the liability shield needs to be “revoked, immediately.”

Whether Biden can iron out a new law that satisfies Democrats and prevents Republicans from suddenly opposing a repeal will be something to look out for in 2021. 

Defense

The United States’ technological national security challenge is a battle on two fronts. The first is maintaining cyber dominance, both offensively and defensively, and the second is remaining on the cutting edge of artificial intelligence and automated warfare. 

Because cyber attacks are often performed with the utmost secrecy and frequently without tangible public successes, they can be more difficult to measure than traditional espionage. Cyber defense, however, is oftentimes easier to evaluate, and as Russia’s recent cyber attack on the United States revealed, our defensive capabilities are slacking. 

The Biden administration has already taken actions to restore focus and direct resources to domestic cybersecurity. President Biden has carved out new senior White House role specifically tasked with bolstering cyber offense and defense. His new stimulus bill would provide $10 billion for domestic cyber and IT infrastructure. And Congress has already demonstrated bipartisan support for beefing up cyberdefense—the 2021 NDAA expanded on the authorization given to the Cyberspace Solarium Commission to examine and recommend cyber deterrence strategies. 

Building off the House Intelligence Committee’s 2020 report, the Biden administration can address both defensive capabilities as well as research and development. The administration’s priorities might include (1) piloting a public-private talent exchange between the U.S. intelligence community and high-tech companies, (2) investing in existing federal labs, and (3) expanding recruitment of talent in STEM fields, with a focus on improving diversity and lowering the barriers to entry. Each of the three will prove to be not only crucial in improving our existing cyberdefense but also in helping American lead in the research and development of artificial intelligence and high-tech intelligence and defense. 

The 117th Congress promises to be steeply divided and partisan. At the same time, the Biden administration promises to bring about unity and to renew bipartisanship. Enforcing common sense data privacy reforms, regulating big tech companies, and bolstering cyberdefense may all be pathways to strike compromise in Congress and pass impactful legislation. Each rides strong and broad support amongst the public. Let’s see what the Biden administration can get done.