Arizona Senate Candidate Blake Grasp’s Plans To Deal with Massive Tech’s ‘Predatory’ Enterprise Practices

Ailan Evans

  • Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters wants to liquidate Big Tech and ban its business practices that he believes are harmful.
  • “They are just too big and have too much power,” said Masters, referring to big tech companies like Amazon, Apple and Google. “This is a new, modern problem that we need to solve, and a few senators who understand the problem could get the ball rolling.”
  • The Senate candidate encouraged lawmakers to think outside of antitrust law when dealing with the potential harm from social media, and proposed a total ban on targeted advertising and similar business practices.
  • “The right solution is better privacy laws that can actually prevent companies from using consumer data against them,” said Masters. “A good standard would be to allow users to sign up for all tracking and data collection practices.”

Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters wants to liquidate Big Tech and ban its business practices that he believes are harmful.

“I think Republicans need to reconsider their antitrust enforcement history and recognize that huge concentrations of power in private hands can violate people’s freedoms as much as the government,” Masters said in an interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Masters, who announced his candidacy in July, is Chief Operating Officer at investment firm Thiel Capital and heads the Thiel Foundation, a philanthropic organization founded by billionaire investor and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. He’s competing in a crowded Republican primary with fellow candidate and current Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich for the chance to oust incumbent Democratic Senator Mark Kelly in 2022.

If elected, Masters would join a growing contingent of Republican lawmakers, including Colorado Rep. Ken Buck and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, who are advocating the breakup of Big Tech. Hawley has proposed several antitrust laws aimed at monopolizing digital markets, while Buck spearheaded the submission of a number of bills to the House Justice Committee allegedly regulating anti-competitive business practices by technology companies.

Masters said he generally agrees with the lawmaker’s approach to big tech and told the DCNF he plans to keep pushing Republicans for more aggressive antitrust enforcement and legislation.

“They are just too big and have too much power,” he said, referring to big tech companies like Amazon, Apple and Google. “This is a new, modern problem that we need to solve, and a few senators who understand the problem could get the ball rolling.”

Masters argued that the sheer size of big tech companies like Google and Facebook enables them to conduct business practices that harm consumers, as z user sees.

“I don’t see why Facebook should also have Instagram and WhatsApp to collect private information and share data in order to advertise more effectively to users,” he said. “I think it’s predatory.”

Despite the onslaught of antitrust complaints from states, private parties, and the Federal Trade Commission over the past year, Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple have repeatedly ruled in their favor.

“Existing interpretations of antitrust laws tend to define consumer harm in terms of higher prices. That might work for a railroad or telegraph monopoly, but you don’t pay to use Facebook; You are the product, ”said Masters.

He suggested rewriting the antitrust laws to suit the unique business model of social media platforms that do not charge consumer-centric fees. The Senate candidate also encouraged lawmakers to think outside of antitrust law when dealing with the potential harm from social media, and proposed an outright ban on targeted advertising and similar business practices.

“The right solution is better privacy laws that can actually prevent companies from using consumer data against them,” said Masters. “A good standard would be to allow users to sign up for all tracking and data collection practices.”

Comprehensive regulation of data collection and privacy currently takes place primarily at the state level, with notable examples such as the California Consumer Privacy Act being considered the most comprehensive of data protection legislation. Although lawmakers previously proposed a federal data protection bill, most recently a bill tabled in July by Republicans Roger Wicker and Marsha Blackburn, no comprehensive data protection bills have been passed.

Masters also cited less obvious social harm, which he believes is caused by social media, as potential targets for legislation. He pointed out recommendation algorithms that offer content to users based on their preferences to encourage addictive behavior.

“I think it’s clearly damaging people’s brains, especially developing brains,” Masters told the DCNF. “Legislators should and must deal with it.”

The Masters campaign is getting a $ 10 million jump start thanks to Peter Thiel who placed the donation in April after another $ 10 million donation to Ohio Senate candidate and Hillbilly Elegy author JD Vance to have.

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