Open Markets Institute

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Panel Discussion | Are Tech Giants Too Big for Democracy? Ft. Senator Al Franken

Senator Al Franken discusses the power of Big Tech, net neutrality, monopoly, and our democracy.

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We need to talk about data in digital advertising and how it influences competition and encourages a disregard for Americans’ privacy. We need to better understand how past deals – Google’s purchases of DoubleClick and Waze or Facebook’s acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram, for example – have impacted consumers’ privacy and big tech’s ability to establish barriers to entry for emerging rivals.

And finally, we desperately need to conduct vigorous oversight – in the form of investigations and hearings – to fully understand current practices and the potential for harm. We must work together to make this happen.

Sen. Al Franken delivers a keynote address on these ideas and the other outsized roles that major tech companies play in so many aspects of our lives.


Guests:

Segment 1

  • Former U.S. Senator Al Franken, Represented Minnesota in the U.S. Senate from 2009 to 2018

  • Barry Lynn, Executive Director, Open Markets Institute

Segment 2

  • Craig Aaron, Leader of Free Press and Free Press Action since 2011

  • Tim Wu, Contributing opinion writer, The New York Times

  • Brandi Collins-Dexter, Senior Campaign Director, Color of Change

Segment 3

  • Franklin Foer, Staff writer at The Atlantic and former editor of The New Republic

  • Roger McNamee, Managing Director, Elevation Partners

  • K. Sabeel Rahman, Author of Democracy Against Domination, visiting professor of law at Harvard Law School, and former fellow at New America

  • Christine Rosen, Editor at The New Atlantis

  • Lina Khan, Director of Legal Policy, Open Markets Institute


Relevant Readings: 

On Net Neutrality

On Platform Monopoly

On Platform Monopoly and the 2016 election