The Democratic platform is doubling down on tech antitrust and children’s online safety

While billionaires have pushed Vice President Kamala Harris (D-CA) to depart from President Joe Biden’s antitrust policy, the Democratic Party seems to be doubling down. The word “competition” comes up 18 times in the party’s 2024 platform, compared to nine in the 2020 version. Other key policy areas, like tackling junk fees and noncompetes, are mentioned several times in the 2024 platform as well, compared to just one passing reference to noncompetes in the 2020 document. Notably, those are areas where the Federal Trade Commission, led by Lina Khan, has been instrumental. The platform is an indication of where Democrats stand on key issues, which will serve as an important signal to Harris about where the party base is. Even though it predates Democrats’ swap of their leading candidate, the platform, along with some other early indicators, begins to paint a fuzzy picture of where Harris stands on tech policy.