Fred Campbell, a former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Wireless Bureau Chief, told Breitbart News Sunday in an exclusive interview how “Conservatism itself is at stake” thanks to Google and Facebook’s censorship.
Campbell argued that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), similar to Silicon Valley, wants to use conservatives’ opposition to free-market regulation to Facebook and Google’s benefit.
Campbell told Breitbart News Sunday, “Generally we want the market to solve all of these kinds of problems. The problem with privacy in the United States is that it is a mess. There are these sector-specific regulations, the FCC has a certain set of laws and rules that apply to telephone companies, and you have got other laws that apply to Googles of the world.”
“It is not that we need a massive regulatory intervention. On the other hand, it would be wise to have all of the companies on the Internet subject to a single set of rules, rules that are clear and the consumers can understand as well,” the former FCC bureau head explained.
Facebook’s reputation plummeted after reports revealed data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica used the social media platform to gain access to the personal data of more than 87 million users. A recent Reuters poll suggests that only 41 percent of consumers trust Facebook to comply with American privacy laws.
The Facebook CEO will testify before the Senate Judiciary and the Senate Commerce Committees on April 10 at 2:15 p.m. Eastern.
On April 11, Zuckerberg will also appear before the House Energy and Commerce Committee “regarding the company’s use and protection of user data.”
Campbell also noted that Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) sponsored a bill, the Browser Act, to “harmonize” the privacy laws between edge providers such as Facebook and Google and Internet service providers (ISPs) such as Comcast and Verizon. The director of Tech Knowledge noted that not a single Democrat supported the bill. The Browser Act would require Internet service providers (ISPs) such as Comcast and Verizon – as well as content providers such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter – to obtain a user’s consent before collecting and selling their information for marketing.
Blackburn asked during an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, “Who owns the digital you? Is it you or the search engine or the edge provider that is providing the service?”
Breitbart News Sunday host Matthew Boyle asked Campbell about how, through the Safe Harbor provision in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, Facebook and Google can censor conservative voices “with no liability.”
“Conservatism itself is at stake. I do not think a lot of people on our side get that. Democrats have gotten very good at using our own free-market arguments against us,” Campbell argued.
The former FCC bureau chief added, “If we try to do something about it, they [Democrats] say that you are hypocritical because you’re over-regulatory.”
Campbell continued, “They have set it up and what they’re pushing for is the companies that support them, that support them full-time, they say, Google, Facebook, and the like, Silicon Valley, they have the right to edit the Internet whenever they like. They actually have a law that says that they can do that called Section 230 of the Communications Act. They can go ahead and delete conservative voices left and right.”
Breitbart News’s Matthew Boyle noted that, “Government has regulated their competitors. They are thriving because the government is picking winners and losers and leaving them alone.”
Campbell argued that Congress needs to repeal the safe harbor provision in the Communications Act.
He told Breitbart News Sunday, “I’ve argued that Section 230 should be repealed. It protects the Silicon Valley companies’ ability to support the Democrats by deleting our content with no liability.”
Campbell suggested that Section 230 “gives them complete ability to say whatever they want with no liability or slander, or libel, or whatever they like.”
Campbell also told Breitbart News Sunday that we need antitrust to resolve Google’s monopoly.
“We need antitrust action. Google is a clear monopoly over the advertising market. Most online news outlets get a large amount of money, and it is largely relying on Google’s ad network,” Campbell charged. “It is difficult to criticize Google, you risk your bottom line. I think Google needs to be looked at a from an antitrust standpoint. They have become dominant in a lot of markets.”
Roslyn Layton, a visiting scholar for the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), told Breitbart News Saturday that “Google and Facebook have such an oligopoly” on advertising and that “we need to stop regulating Facebook’s competitors.”
Former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell told Breitbart News Saturday that the Facebook Cambridge Analytica scandal “is a watershed moment for how people will perceive privacy.”
Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview ahead of Facebook’s hearing on the privacy scandal that “Unless you get it right, look for us to make you get it right” on privacy.
Campbell concluded, “We have not gotten behind antitrust again because our free-market arguments get used against us. There’s nothing free market about a monopoly.”
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