Big Tech

Today Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) wrote to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg demanding answers on an investigation which found that drug dealers openly operate on Instagram and sell illicit substances that are easily accessible to teenagers as young as 13. Senator Hawley wrote, "The findings of the report are horrifying, especially as our nation confronts a drug overdose epidemic of historic proportions and an alarming deterioration of teenagers’ mental health precipitated by...

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and a bipartisan group of Senate colleagues led by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) will introduce a new bill to crack down on Big Tech monopolies that abuse their power to favor their own products.  The American Innovation and Choice Online Act will set clear rules to protect small businesses on dominant platforms and strengthen the ability of antitrust enforcers to hold such platforms accountable. Senator Hawley said, “For too...

Today U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced new legislation to make social media companies liable for bodily or mental harm their products cause to children. Senator Hawley’s bill would close the Section 230 loophole protecting these companies and allow parents to sue and obtain damages from social media companies wholly or partly responsible for harm to users under 16. Senator Hawley said, “Facebook has long had evidence of the harmful effects their products have on children but covered...

During today’s Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee hearing, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) grilled Steve Satterfield, Facebook’s Vice President of Privacy & Public Policy, about the safety of platforms like Instagram and Facebook for teenage users. Satterfield repeatedly declined to provide clarity on internal research from Facebook showing the negative effects their services have on users.

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai demanding an explanation as to why ads placed by Live Action and Choose Life Marketing have seemingly been censored.

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) sent letters to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey demanding answers on their collusion with the Biden administration to suppress free speech. Senator Hawley said the revelations raise questions as to whether the platforms are operating as arms of the federal government.

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) called out the Senate’s proposed $10 billion bailout for Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO, included in a bill to increase U.S. competitiveness over China.

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced the Bust Up Big Tech Act, new legislation to restore accountability and competition to Big Tech. Senator Hawley’s bill would break up Big Tech companies seeking to dominate multiple industries simultaneously, by banning companies like Amazon from marketing their own retail goods alongside those of other sellers or providing online hosting or cloud services to an ever-growing swath of the internet—including competitors. The law would also empower the FTC to monitor compliance and strengthen antitrust enforcement.

U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) sent letters to Federal Trade Commission Acting Chair (FTC) Rebecca Slaughter and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) calling for a public Judiciary Hearing into recent revelations that the Obama FTC failed to enforce antitrust law in an 2011 investigation of Google and instead let the company off with a slap on the wrist. The senators call for testimony from Google executives and relevant FTC officials, including the former Commissioners who now represent big tech firms.

Today U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) called for the Senate Judiciary Committee to schedule hearings on the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) sweetheart treatment of Google and failure to enforce antitrust laws under the Obama Administration.