Trump Takes on Tech Industry in Early Policy Moves

President Donald Trump has shown a readiness to take on the tech industry, clashing with Silicon Valley in ways that his tech-friendly predecessor hardly ever did.

The president’s executive order on immigration, which generated an outcry from the industry, was only the beginning. Trump-appointed regulators have begun scaling back network neutrality regulations that marked one of the tech industry’s most significant victories during the Obama era. That rule requires that internet service providers don't give priority to some traffic—a policy that companies like Facebook and Netflix like, because it assures them the same basic treatment that rivals would get. Regulators also are likely to undo customer-privacy restrictions imposed under the Obama administration that critics say disadvantaged cable and wireless firms such as Charter Communications and AT&T in their competition with internet firms.

The new Attorney General Jeff Sessions, like President Trump, has been a critic of the tech industry’s ability to keep customers’ communications and data from the government. Many tech and privacy policy experts believe the new administration will be aggressive in its efforts to broaden the government’s authority, particularly where national security is involved. Moreover, given some past comments by President Trump and his aides, many companies worry that the administration plans new restrictions on visas for high-skilled workers from abroad, among other potential changes to the immigration system that could be unwelcome to Silicon Valley.