"TikTok is a Drug"... Big Tech Crackdown Continues in the US New Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] With the Republican Party taking control of the House of Representatives, which holds legislative power, starting in 2023, regulatory pressure on Big Tech is expected to intensify. The Republicans have suggested preparing strong regulatory measures that require social media companies to transparently disclose their operational processes, arguing that their content interventions are left-leaning.

On the 31st (local time), the U.S. economic media CNBC reported that following the bipartisan passage of a bill banning TikTok use by the U.S. House, regulatory offensives against social media companies have been strengthened from the first day of the new year.

CNBC forecasted that legislative movements will be in full swing in the new year, starting with bipartisan agreements on bills addressing security threats posed by TikTok’s parent company, China’s ByteDance, and bills aimed at making the covert operational processes of Big Tech, including social media, transparent.

Last year, the U.S. Congress simultaneously pushed forward antitrust legislation to curb Big Tech’s monopoly power. The antitrust package bill passed by the House focuses on banning preferential treatment of their own services on platforms operated by Big Tech companies such as Google, Apple, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft (MS). Additionally, various regulatory bills directly targeting Big Tech were proposed, including laws to prohibit Apple and Google’s app market monopolies and to strengthen protections for children’s online activities, but these failed to be enacted.

Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher appeared on NBC’s 'Meet the Press' that day and likened social media to drugs, warning of strong regulations. He stated, "TikTok is a highly addictive and destructive digital fentanyl," and argued that measures to ban TikTok use on mobile devices should be expanded nationwide.

Earlier, the U.S. Congress included a complete ban on TikTok use on federally owned mobile devices in the fiscal year 2023 federal budget, and Gallagher insists this ban should be extended to general users as well.

Frances Haugen, a former Facebook engineer turned whistleblower and founder of the nonprofit organization Beyond Screen targeting social media, also told Meet the Press that "the U.S. is significantly behind other countries in social media regulation," directly urging the political sphere to enact strong regulatory legislation.

She emphasized increasing algorithm transparency as a main cause of social media harms. Algorithms refer to the methods social media platforms use to decide which content to prioritize for users, and social media companies are criticized for using these algorithms to distribute politically biased content and spread fake news.

She stressed, "Since social media platforms like TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube operate using similar algorithms, understanding their algorithms should be the first step in regulation."

Republican Jim Jordan, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, and others launched an investigation in September last year into allegations that Meta, which operates Facebook, deliberately blocked content damaging to Democratic candidate Joe Biden during the 2020 presidential election. With the Republicans taking control of the House on the 3rd when the new Congress begins, they will gain the authority to issue subpoenas, so regulatory moves against Meta are expected to accelerate.

However, there are also forecasts that implementing regulatory measures will not be easy, as Big Tech companies are investing astronomical amounts in lobbying to block legislation.

Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar also emphasized, "The lobbying power of tech companies (Big Tech) is so strong that bipartisan-supported bills could collapse as soon as tomorrow," urging, "We must actively work to pass social media regulatory bills within this year."

According to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), a U.S. private organization, in 2020, when the U.S. government began regulatory moves against Big Tech, Meta and Amazon spent $19.7 million and $18.7 million respectively on political lobbying, marking the largest amounts ever recorded.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.