Tech policy activists find Bernie Sanders is best bet – while Trump is the worst

The top candidate from the great state of the internet is Bernie Sanders, according to an analysis of the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates’ campaign platforms by tech policy activists at the Free Press Action Fund. The worst candidate on policy positions that affect citizens’ digital lives? Donald J Trump.

While nearly all the candidates have been a little light on policy so far, they have all opined on the internet. “We’ve been scouring the transcripts of the debates produced by the networks that host them,” said Tim Karr, senior director of strategy for Free Press. “We’ve gone through the candidates’ websites to see if there’s anything that relates to the issues in their campaign platforms, and we’ve been bird-dogging.” Indeed, the group’s staffers have been attending stump speeches, rallies and other public events to ask the specific policy questions that, across the board, the candidates don’t seem prepared to answer. No candidate from either party has supported strong encryption. The issues at hand are pressing: censorship, industry consolidation and mass surveillance are among policy positions Free Press opposes. The group is in favor of net neutrality, strong encryption, inexpensive internet access and local broadband competition.