Conservatives have been on a collision course with Big Tech for some time. The removal of President Trump from major social media platforms in 2021 further inflamed preexisting concerns, and Republican deference to the Chamber of Commerce agenda on these issues can no longer be taken for granted. From censorship, to political bias, to data privacy, to child exploitation, to human trafficking and the increasingly violent online pornography epidemic—along with economic concerns regarding market concentration and anticompetitive behavior—the problems with Big Tech are complex and multifaceted.
There are, moreover, divisions among conservatives about the severity of the problems posed by Big Tech and disagreement over the right policy solutions to address these problems. With Republicans poised to take at least one house of Congress in the midterm elections, these intramural debates among conservatives are likely to take on a broader significance in the years ahead.
