The whimsical loyalty of high-tech oligarchs strengthens the disastrous need for US data privacy, competition and AI law

Ben Winters is the director of AI and data privacy for the American Consumer Federation.

Trends that tech oligarchs hope to ensure some advantage in kissing President Donald Trump’s ring (fill in the blank: remove antitrust laws against you, and technology-related laws at the federal level (In the case of the establishment of a new data center with federal land and tax deductions that kill and pave roads) will make it even more urgent to pass privacy, competition, and AI laws at the US state and federal levels.

Simply put, nothing prevents businesses from changing data practices and content policies, sharing information about their enemies, or cooperating with government requests and investigations more than they have before. Without privacy rules, the US is very badly lacking. In particular, there is little protection against the indiscriminate collection of data by businesses and governments. Tech companies have shown their willingness to change their policies and abandon the previously mentioned morals multiple times.

The latest and undoubtedly most dangerous stock of this starts with Elon Musk, who bought Twitter, then turns it into X, then tweaks the algorithm that presents the content to users to make it possible to see your own content They have begun to raise and provide mainly related advertising. Despite years of efforts to improve the online experience, there is more fraud and engagement bait, as it removes Republican candidates and issues, and in general, both advertising and content standards so heavily. It will be shown to people. Musk fired most of the site’s trust and safety teams, reducing the amount of content moderation staff, and moved the company’s headquarters from California to Texas. All of these movements resulted in significant degradation in the quality of experience on the platform. This has led millions of users to escape from Bluesky’s X. This is another platform that replicates much of what Twitter has to offer without scale.

Last month, Mark Zuckerberg announced that he would make many of the same moves that Meta had masked. Dismantle fact-checking businesses, move content moderation operations to Texas to reduce awareness of political bias and embrace “free speech.” The language he uses mimics past statements by Musk, Peter Thiel, Mark Andreesen and figures from the Trump administration. And come when Zuckerberg travels to Capitol with Mar Lago and meets and donates with Trump to make his dedication Crystal Clear in every respect. Despite the obvious rebuttal of actions, there is a big difference between Meta and X. Meta has more users, and has more and more users, owns other major platforms such as Instagram, Threads, WhatsApp, and offers widely used services like MarketPlace and A games and It offers a suite of virtual reality products, and literally a critical internet infrastructure in many countries.

Perhaps the unlikely chance of Trump’s transition into a circle is Sam Altman, CEO of Openai. His incentives are clearly laid out in the company’s “AI in America” ​​document. Instead of actual privacy or AI laws, establish vague “road rules” and best practices, creating economic zones to “much faster permitting processes.” Bypass federal resources to accelerate the development of infrastructure outside of existing environmental rules and construction of data centers. Altman is still sleeping in Capitol, not “in the tent” like Zuckerberg, and hasn’t destroyed federal agencies like Musk, but he says, “incredible for the country in many ways “He proudly stood with Trump in an oval office on the first day of his administration, supporting his company using state power, and assisted in the announcement of “Project Stargate,” Conveniently unveiling ChatGpt for government agencies and announced the development of more national security features after approaching decision makers.

Of course – while showing loyalty to a president who longs for this, these moves have led to the vulnerable nature of our technology ecosystem without strong regulations focusing on competition, privacy and security. User data to showcase and control how people acquire and utilize AII tools. Undoubtedly, relaxed surveillance will lead to an increase in scams on social media platforms, undermining people’s privacy and security. Continuous changes to policies regarding data collection and content moderation disrupt people and limit their ability to control their data. These moves indicate an anti-competitive environment. This is a lawsuit currently being filed in federal courts with Google, Amazon, Meta and others. Meta’s face-like behavior on fact checks, misinformation, hatred and harassment are examples of Silicon Valley’s current thinking. They can do anything and escape it.

Over the past few years, federal privacy laws have come closer than ever before, with strong proposed laws and excellent anti-trust lawsuits to curb data collection for AI use. At both state and federal levels, the US needs strong baseline rules to avoid strong baseline rules when people who control our data change on a whim or chase after them at any time. It’s clearer than ever to do. Without the most basic constraints, it is rare to protect ordinary people from the whims of the White House and Capitol Hill oligarchs and their partners.