December, 08 2021, 02:02pm EDT
Statement on Raimondo's "Serious Concerns" About EU's Attempt to Rein In Big Tech
WASHINGTON
This morning, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo expressed "serious concerns" about the European Union's continued consideration of legislation that would help limit the monopolistic power of technology giants around the world. Secretary Raimondo called on EU officials to listen to US tech giants "now more than ever."
The following statement can be attributed to Ginger Quintero-McCall, legal director at Demand Progress:
"Secretary Raimondo's comments about European efforts to address Big Tech's dominant power are highly concerning and inconsistent with President Biden's executive order on competition and the positions of many of his most prominent appointees with jurisdiction over corporate power. Many agencies within the Biden administration are currently working in line with the President's order to find ways to take on Big Tech, and representatives of the US government should not be interfering with the EU's attempts to do the same.
"This is not a matter of the EU targeting US national companies. It is the EU targeting monopolies, some of which are based in the US - and action by the EU is poised to benefit smaller companies and consumers across the globe, including in the US. We should not allow for the interests of massive corporations to be conflated with the interests of the American people."
Demand Progress amplifies the voice of the people -- and wields it to make government accountable and contest concentrated corporate power. Our mission is to protect the democratic character of the internet -- and wield it to contest concentrated corporate power and hold government accountable.
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Civil liberties defenders on Thursday decried the U.S. Senate's advancement of the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, which critics say lawmakers are trying to ram through without protection against warrantless surveillance and with a provision that would effectively make every American a spy whether they like it or not.
Senators voted 67-32 in favor of a cloture motion to begin voting on RISAA, a bill to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which expires on Friday. FISA—a highly controversial law that has been abused hundreds of thousands of times—allows warrantless surveillance of non-U.S. citizens but also often sweeps up Americans' communication data in the process.
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This so-called "Make Everyone a Spy" clause would allow the attorney general or director of national intelligence to force electronic communication service providers to "immediately provide... all information, facilities, or assistance" the government deems necessary.
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Columbia President Minouche Shafik informed the campus community on Thursday that she had authorized the police to clear the encampment.
As it has been in the past, the school has become a center of anti-war protests—and crackdowns by school officials and the police—since Israel began its bombardment of Gaza in October.
Pro-Palestinian students and alumni have demanded that Columbia divest from companies that profit from Israel's apartheid policies in the occupied Palestinian territories and cancel its dual degree program with Tel Aviv University.
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