Sen Sanders brings tech criticism to campaign trail

Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT) wasted no time taking aim at e-commerce giant Amazon over its economic practices after announcing his 2020 presidential bid — marking an early campaign appearance for the senator's long-standing critiques of tech titans. Sen. Sanders criticized the company over how it conducted its second headquarters search and for not paying any federal income taxes for 2018. Sen. Sanders has consistently challenged companies’ market size and power. While he has not made outright calls for the breakup of major tech firms, Sen. Sanders has questioned whether “Facebook, Google, and Amazon [should] be allowed to control so much of the internet.” In the telecom sector, more recently, he called on federal regulators to reject the proposed $26 billion Sprint-T-Mobile merger. In 2018, Sen Sanders joined a group of Democratic lawmakers in urging US tech companies to extend to Americans the protections offered under a sweeping privacy law the European Union passed. And in recent weeks Sen Sanders has pressed federal agencies to investigate reports that wireless carriers allowed third-party brokers to improperly access and sell subscribers’ location data. On net neutrality, Sen Sanders has called the FCC’s decision to repeal the open internet rules a “disastrous decision.”