AOC Weighs in on Tech and Antitrust

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), the progressive firebrand whose rebukes of the tech sector drew headlines on the 2018 campaign trail, supports the outlines of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) sweeping proposal to break up tech firms like Amazon and Facebook. “The idea itself is something that I am supportive of because taking an antitrust approach I believe is absolutely relevant and it’s appropriate to take,” said Rep Ocasio-Cortez. Amazon’s role as “both the marketplace, producer, seller … creates an antitrust issue,” she said. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez supports breaking up Facebook, though she declined to chart out a path for doing so. “Facebook as a basic communications platform while also selling ads and also being a surveillance platform, I think those functions should be broken up, but how that gets levied and how that gets approached is what we need to take a fine-tooth comb at.”

Warren’s proposal has been put to a number of 2020 Democratic candidates, with all who have spoken out thus far largely resisting the plan. But Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks signal a dose of support for it among the party’s surging left flank. The freshman lawmaker said she has yet to explore legislation on tech and antitrust, but indicated it’s a future area of interest. “I think what I’ve been doing more has been getting more overall briefs on this space from academic and legal perspectives,” she said, adding: “It’s something I’ve definitely been keeping an ear on the ground for.”