Commentary

How Intra-Industry Conflicts Shape the Techlash

March 23, 2021 | Zach Graves

In 2013, The Economist coined the term “techlash,” predicting that CEOs of large tech firms would soon “join bankers and oilmen in public demonology.” In recent years, this has come to fruition. A majority of both Republicans and Democrats now support increased regulation of the tech industry. Additionally, half of Americans favor breaking up large firms like Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Google.

March 16, 2021 | Joel Thayer

In 2003, Tim Wu first coined the phrase “net neutrality” in his paper “Network Neutrality, Broadband Discrimination.” He defined a neutral network as “internet that does not favor one application over another.” Today, the Federal Communications Commission faces a choice: either regulate the entire internet ecosystem as a public utility or do not. The agency

March 16, 2021 | Dan Lips

The Biden administration has an opportunity to curb the ongoing opioid epidemic in a unique area: the postal system. This opportunity is the result of a 2018 federal law that required the U.S. Postal Service and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to begin turning away international packages that lack advance electronic data (AED) in order

February 24, 2021 | Zach Graves

Smartphone app store policies have come into focus recently, following a series of recent conflicts between app makers and app store operators (principally Apple and Google). These include the removal of conservative-oriented social media platforms Parler and Gab, and the ensuing debate about balancing free speech and harmful content. There have also been numerous conflicts

January 20, 2021 | Dan Lips

Alejandro Mayorkas, President-elect Joe Biden’s choice to be secretary of homeland security, brings significant experience to the role, having worked as deputy secretary during the Obama administration after serving as director of Citizenship and Immigration Services. But his confirmation to that office came while he was under inspector general investigation for allegations of preferential treatment

January 20, 2021 | Dan Lips

The inauguration will culminate in a transfer of power in Congress. For the first time in six years, Democrats will control the upper chamber when Vice President Kamala Harris takes office to break the 50-50 tie in the Senate. With Democratic leaders calling for the end of the Senate’s legislative filibuster, the Senate as an

Why GAO is Congress’s Best Investment

December 7, 2020 | Dan Lips

A new report examines the Congressional watchdog’s return-on-investment Facing a December 11 deadline to fund the federal government, Congress must finalize its annual spending bills or punt those negotiations into the new year. As lawmakers negotiate on Capitol Hill, taxpayers should keep an eye on one small line item in the federal budget. Last year,

October 30, 2020 | Garrett Johnson

The “break-them-up” crowd does not grasp the negative consequences of sweeping anti-tech actions. With declining public sentiment about the tech industry and its impact on society, we’ve witnessed a growing chorus of advocates and policymakers arguing that now is the time for the federal government to take drastic action. Indeed, half of Americans now favor breaking up and more

Avoiding the 1876 Scenario in November

October 8, 2020 | Garrett Johnson

By Garrett Johnson With five weeks to go, Americans from all walks of life and the different sides of the political spectrum should think ahead and prepare to do their part to help the country avoid an 1876 scenario. In 1876, the presidential election reopened the nation’s still healing wounds from the Civil War. The nation

October 8, 2020 | Sean Roberts

By Sean Roberts Viewers who watched the final moments of last week’s presidential debate got a glimpse of the potential crisis facing the United States in November. President Trump sharply criticized expanded voting-by-mail, warned that it will result in widespread fraud and mistakes, and committed to challenging results he deemed unfair. Former Vice President Joe

August 7, 2020 | Dan Lips

The Hill By Elise Bean and Dan Lips Click here to read the full article on the case for IG independence. The balance of power may soon shift in Washington, followed by a realignment in Congress on oversight. Republicans who, under the Trump administration, have resisted investigating executive branch actions may feel differently about a

Rebuilding Congress’ Policy Capacity

July 11, 2020 | Zach Graves

Click here to read the full article discussing efforts to modernize Congress. Earlier this month, the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress held a hearing on improving staffing capacity and policy expertise in Congress. A major theme of this discussion was the historical loss of congressional staff capacity, and how to address it. To reverse this

Congress Must Protect Federal Watchdogs

June 15, 2020 | Dan Lips

By Keith Ashdown, former Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee staff director and Dan Lips, Director of Cyber and National Security Policy President Trump recently fired several of the federal government’s most respected inspectors general–prompting a rare outcry of bipartisan criticism of the White House. Congressional Democrats were instinctively quick to condemn the president’s actions.

May 7, 2020 | Joel Thayer

To be competitive in the race to 5G, the U.S. must rely on and support its expert agency – the FCC…. If we have learned anything from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is the importance of a united front from the government. This is especially true of the United States’ position on 5G, which requires government

The Techlash After COVID-19

April 30, 2020 | Garrett Johnson

The technology industry’s rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic has renewed appreciation for platforms and tools like Facebook and Zoom and given advocates a triumphant narrative to trumpet. But the “techlash” is far from over. COVID-19 and its long-term fallout may mark only the beginning, not the end, of heightened scrutiny of tech. The argument that the tech industry cannot

March 31, 2020 | Dan Lips

Creating temporary medical centers in a pandemic Co-authored by Jonathan Butcher, a senior policy analyst in the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation. Coming soon to a parking lot near you — a hospital. Federal and state officials are rushing to create temporary medical centers to help patients during the pandemic. The White

March 31, 2020 | Dan Lips

This post was co-authored by Senior Internet Security Engineer, Sean Roberts. The coronavirus pandemic is testing our nation’s resolve and already disrupting our way of life. But we can’t afford to let it disrupt the November election. Six states have already postponed their primaries. More will likely follow in the weeks and months ahead. Read the rest

March 30, 2020 | Dan Lips

Former Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-Okla.) passing this weekend marked a rare moment of unity in this highly partisan era with an outpouring of tributes from liberal Sens. like Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and conservative senators like Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) praising their former colleague. Why? Read the rest of the article at The Hill.

February 28, 2020 | Dan Lips

Federal and state officials recently told a Senate Committee that state and local governments need additional cybersecurity resources. Their testimony follows the gatherings of the nation’s state secretaries of state and election directors earlier this year in Washington, where cybersecurity and election integrity were a top focus. Congress is now considering legislation to create a

February 14, 2020 | Zach Graves

This article was authored by Lincoln Network head of policy Zach Graves and Fix the System co-founder Nilmini Rubin. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) usually works hard to avoid political controversy. But the agency’s recent legal decision vaulted the nonpartisan agency into the center of impeachment politics. The GAO asserted that the White House Office

January 2, 2020 | Garrett Johnson

Congress approved $1.4 trillion in new spending last week to avoid another government shutdown over the holidays. Taxpayers are right to be wary whenever Congress pulls out its checkbook. But when it comes to one important line-item, budget hawks should be rooting for more funding, not less. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) serves as Congress’s

November 26, 2019 | Garrett Johnson

Increasing science and technology advice would be an important first step Technological advancements are rapidly changing the American economy and workforce. At the same time, lawmakers increasingly appear to lack the capability to understand and respond effectively to this transformation. Flip phone-wielding lawmakers may have been cutting edge in the 1990s, but not in today’s Congress, which routinely grapples

Beware Big Tech’s Embrace Of Regulation

November 25, 2019 | Aaron Ginn

Major players worried about upstarts displacing them are hurrying to cement their market dominance. Silicon Valley has entered a downward spiral of metaphorical mob-like violence, accelerated by broader societal ills and its own mistakes. In an effort akin to taking a hammer to the problem, “breaking up Big Tech” has become one of the few

November 21, 2019 | Garrett Johnson

Conservative voters are (or should be) worried about being censored by social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Or so holds an enduring conservative narrative. But my organization, the Lincoln Network, conducted a national poll with Morning Consult to learn how Republican voters really feel about this issue. The results suggest a significant gap between the

July 30, 2019 | Zach Graves

Over the past year or so, there’s been growing interest in bringing back the Office of Technology Assessment, a think tank within Congress that helped it understand complex science and technology issues from 1974 to 1995. Should OTA be brought back, it seems unlikely that policymakers will leave it unchanged (as they reexamine issues like the timeliness

July 25, 2019 | Zach Graves

The Supreme Court may soon finally start to rein in the sprawling administrative state, returning authority to make laws to Congress. Conservatives have dreamed of this restoration of the Constitution’s separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches. But Congress clearly isn’t equipped to decide the hard questions that lawmakers have simply left to

July 17, 2019 | Ryan Radia

Conservatives see the Constitution as their best defense online, but have they considered the broader consequences? Conservatives often accuse big tech companies of suppressing right-leaning voices and giving preferential treatment to left-wing commentators and news outlets. Google is the target of these latest allegations, which include a heavily edited video that seemingly depicts an executive suggesting

Silicon Valley vs. the post-Trump right

June 26, 2019 | Zach Graves

If tech companies and their allies want to meaningfully push back against this tide of conservatives turning against them, they need a new strategy.

June 16, 2019 | Ryan Radia

The following article originally appeared at FoxNews.com. Should the federal government break up big tech companies like Facebook, Google, and Amazon? Last week, the House Judiciary Committee began investigating this question, marking Congress’s first major antitrust probe in decades. Members of both parties are understandably concerned about tech giants, with some politicians going so far as to push

June 13, 2019 | Zach Graves

The following article, co-authored by Lincoln Network head of policy Zach Graves and R Street Institute vice president of policy Kevin R. Kosar, originally ran at RealClearPolicy. They are the authors of the policy study, “Bring in the Nerds: Reviving the Office of Technology Assessment.” Barely one in five Americans approve of the way Congress is operating. It

June 5, 2019 | Zach Graves

The following article by Lincoln Network head of policy Zach Graves originally ran at Techdirt: In an article for Quillette titled, “It Isn’t Your Imagination: Twitter Treats Conservatives More Harshly Than Liberals,” Columbia University research fellow Richard Hanania offers us proof–once and for all–that social media companies are biased against conservatives. Either that, or it’s the latest

April 12, 2019 | Ryan Radia

The following article by Lincoln Network senior policy counsel Ryan Radia originally ran at InsideSources: Telecom companies are beginning to overhaul their networks with the fifth generation of wireless infrastructure, known as 5G. In early April, Verizon Wireless launched America’s first commercial 5G network in Chicago and Minneapolis, offering markedly improved speeds compared to existing 4G networks—up

April 9, 2019 | Ryan Radia

https://foxnews.com/opinion/garrett-johnson-facebook-did-an-audit-of-anti-conservative-bias-now-lets-see-the-results

February 28, 2019 | Garrett Johnson

The following article by Lincoln Network executive director Garrett Johnson originally ran at FoxNews.com: The tech giants of Silicon Valley, particularly Google and Facebook, have faced intense criticism in recent years for promoting partisan political agendas in the workplace. TwitterCEO Jack Dorsey even admitted recently that conservative employees at his company “don’t feel safe to express their opinions.” To gain

October 5, 2018 | Zach Graves

The following article by Lincoln Network head of policy Zach Graves and Demand Progress policy director Daniel Schuman originally ran at Techdirt: When Mark Zuckerberg was called to testify earlier this year, the world was shocked by Congress’s evident lack of basic technological literacy. For many, this performance illustrates the institution’s incompetence. After all, if our elected representatives

August 28, 2018 | Zach Graves

This article by Lincoln Network head of policy Zach Graves originally appeared at Techdirt. In an article picked up by Drudge Report and then tweeted by President Donald Trump himself, PJ Media editor Paula Bolyard makes the shocking claim that Google deliberately manipulates its search results to favor left-wing views and undermine the President. In supporting this allegation, she goes to