Big Tech’s outsized influence draws state-level pushback
New York state Sen. Michael Gianaris was ecstatic when Amazon named Long Island City in 2018 as a front-runner for its new headquarters, a project that would bring 25,000 jobs and $2.5 billion in construction spending to his district in Queens. “Traditional antitrust enforcement doesn’t work because Big Tech has become too big and too powerful.” Tech companies aren’t content to play defense. “These things get hacked all the time, so you know, your data can end up in Russia.” His bill would extend existing limitations on smart televisions and would require companies such as Amazon, which markets Echo smart speakers, to obtain permission before they can record, transcribe or sell information from any conversation. Supporters say the law seeks to modernize the state’s tax system and make thriving tech companies pay their fair share. It would assess the tax on revenue tech companies make on digital “Companies like Amazon, Facebook and Google have seen their profits drastically increase during the COVID-19 pandemic while our Main Street businesses are struggling to keep up,” said Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Democrat who Opponents have challenged the law in federal court and say it violates the Internet Tax Freedom Act, which prohibits states from imposing “multiple and discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce.” The wave of state legislation follows growing public consciousness over the power of Big Tech and the companies’ ever-expanding influence, said Samir Jain, the director of policy at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Democracy & Technology.
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