by Eric Lendrum
After the announcement earlier this week that 48 state attorneys general will be conducting a widespread investigation into Big Tech monopolies and censorship, a group backed by the Koch family is coming out in defense of Silicon Valley, Politico reports.
Americans for Prosperity, one of the leading political organizations bankrolled by the Koch brothers (Charles and the late David), has been buying ad space on Facebook for the purpose of “prodding users to contact their attorneys general and urge them not to turn the investigations into a ‘political spectacle.’” Clicking on the ad brings the user to a form letter, which claims that “too often, we see politicians using antitrust investigations to create a political spectacle while abusing its intended purpose.”
This comes after the major announcement by 48 state attorneys general, plus the attorneys general of Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., that there will be a nationwide investigation into Google, with Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-Texas) leading the effort. An additional investigation is being conducted into Facebook by nine state attorneys general, led by Attorney General Letitia James (D-N.Y.).
That investigation is in addition to ongoing antitrust investigations against Big Tech by the United States Congress, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Department of Justice. The only two states not involved in the nationwide investigation are California and Alabama.
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Eric Lendrum graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was the Secretary of the College Republicans and the founding chairman of the school’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter. He has interned for Young America’s Foundation, the Heritage Foundation, and the White House, and has worked for numerous campaigns including the 2018 re-election of Congressman Devin Nunes (CA-22).
