Congress or the Courts? Because it looks like that’s the choice we’re facing as we figure out a way to develop a national tech policy and keep big tech in check.
Of course, Congress loves to hold hearings. Hearings are a great opportunity for legislators to get their faces and their sound bites in front of cameras. The recent Tik Tok hearing is a prime example. But translating the findings of those hearings into legislation is not a process that has seen much success.
Let’s face it, when it comes to speed, technology beats Congressional action hands down. Last year, when the Democrats held both the Senate and the House, there was at least a slim chance that some tech policy legislation might be enacted. But that boat has sailed.
So what’s the alternative? Law suits.
Here are a few of the legal tech battles facing our courts today:
- Gonzalez v. Google and Twitter v. Taamneh at the Supreme Court
- NetChoice v. Moody/Paxton
- Social media multi-district litigation
- Federal and state antitrust cases against Google
- FTC lawsuits
Pretty much everyone agrees that courts are not the appropriate means for establishing national tech policy. Lawsuits are ugly and time consuming and they almost always raise more problems than they solve. The Supreme Court has clearly stated that Congress is better equipped to make decisions on critical technology issues.
But if Congress refuses to act, what other recourse is there? Nagging doesn’t seem to help, as we have all seen in Biden’s attempts to get Congress to act on assault rifle control.
But nagging may be all we have left. So contact your Representatives and Senators and insist that they do the job we sent them to Washington to do. And maybe, just maybe, someone will do more than merely listen.