Andrew Yang: Breaking up big tech won't solve 'fundamental problems' of social media

[Eugene]

Source: The Hill

Andrew Yang: Breaking up big tech won't solve 'fundamental problems' of social media

6/18/2019

Entrepreneur and Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang warned Tuesday that breaking up big tech companies, an idea that has drawn support from fellow 2020 contenders, wouldn’t address the fundamental problems of social media.

Yang said during an interview with “Rising” that dismantling tech giants like Facebook, which owns Instagram and WhatsApp, wouldn’t fix the negative affect its having on teenagers and young people, calling it a “20th century solution to 21st century problems.”

“Competition would not address some of the fundamental problems like if you look at Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp,” he said.

Lawmakers have launched an antitrust investigation in the House while the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice are reportedly preparing for their own probes into the companies' potentially anticompetitive practices.

Yang acknowledged that while it would make sense for tech giants to divest certain parts of their businesses, he believes that "one of the fundamental problems is that our social media apps are causing higher levels of depression, anxiety among teenagers and breaking up the apps into separate companies does nothing to change that."

-snip-

—Tess Bonn

Read more: https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/449095-andrew-yang-breaking-up-big-tech-wont-solve-fundamental-problems-of-social

[Sherman A1]

1. K&R

I believe that Yang is right on this and his many other listed policies.

https://www.yang2020.com/policies/

[mr_lebowski]

2. Teenagers having sadz, cuz 'mean peeps on Facebook' isn't really the biggest concern ...

when it comes to these social media giants and their monopolies.

I'm not saying it's UNimportant, mind you, but there's definitely much more pressing concerns.

Like foreign interference in our Elections, and bullshit that's damaging to our Democracy being propagated in general.

Just MHO.

Granted, breaking up the monopoly might not do much to curb that problem either.

[thesquanderer]

3. I agree, Facebook won't get better just by taking Instagram and WhatsApp away.

This is one of Warren's things I disagree with.

I guess the idea is supposed to be that, by doing things like making Instagram and Whatsapp independent competitors, they can somehow help keep facebook in check? I don't think so.