[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 35 (Wednesday, February 24, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S845-S846]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Big Tech

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, last week I held 12 meetings in Iowa. 
Those meetings are for the purpose of having dialogue with my 
constituents, mostly answering their questions. As many of my 
colleagues know, I hold face-to-face meetings with Iowans in all 99 
counties every year. It has been a privilege to get to every county in 
every corner of the State every single year for the past four decades.
  People have asked me why I do this. The simple answer is, in our 
system of self-government, I am one half of a representative 
government; my constituents are the other half. My county meetings are 
a good way for me to keep in touch and see for myself the challenges 
and successes going on in communities across my home State. In recent 
years, it has become an important way for me to counter disinformation, 
correct misinformation, and sidestep censorship that Americans digest 
daily in the mainstream and social media.
  Big tech and big data companies, much like State surveillance and Big 
Brother, share something in common: If left unchecked, Big Tech can 
undermine the privacy, civil liberties, and constitutional freedoms 
that every American should hold sacred and should never take for 
granted.
  Responsible digital citizenship is more important now than ever, 
particularly with the censuring that is going on. Consumers must be 
mindful about their digital footprint. Anything typed into a search 
engine is effectively a digital diary, saved in the cloud for some 
rainy day. Consumers must be mindful about what is posted, what is 
downloaded, what is shared, and what is liked on social media 
platforms.
  The road to responsible and accountable digital citizenship isn't 
solely the consumer's responsibility. Social media companies, as well 
as content and internet providers, are not exempt from ethical 
corporate stewardship, especially when the welfare of the next 
generation is at stake. Keep in mind that human trafficking is a 
pervasive crime that grooms and blackmails young people on Main Street 
but also in online communications.
  However, having said all those question marks about Big Tech, I think 
we all realize that Big Tech isn't all bad. Technology companies have 
revolutionized our way of life and how we connect with friends and 
family. During the pandemic--and we are still in that pandemic--
technology delivered invaluable connections for e-commerce, for digital 
learning, for teleworking, and for telehealth. However, that doesn't 
give big tech and big data companies license to undermine 
constitutional protections or disregard harmful impacts their products 
and services have on civic life and public trust in our American 
democracy. Titans of technology need to take responsibility for the 
products they build, sell, and profit from fellow Americans.
  Policymakers and regulators have a duty to shape and enforce the 
rules of the road. Big Tech and all of its stakeholders, from content 
makers, social media platforms, and internet service providers, all 
bear responsibility to understand how their business model puts freedom 
at risk. Red flags are popping up all over the digital frontier, from 
recurring data breaches to online censorship, misuse of user profiles, 
and the recent mess with an online brokerage app.
  In the last two Presidential elections, Big Tech has had a big 
influence on information that appeared or didn't appear in Americans' 
social media feeds.
  Big Tech can't hide behind its business model when its revenue 
streams cash in on an infrastructure that sows division and distrust 
among Americans. This ecosystem has been exploited to radicalize 
political extremism and mobilize civil unrest. Social media companies 
have reaped the benefits of their enterprise, so these companies bear 
some responsibility to help repair cracks in the architecture of our 
civic institutions and also to heal the wounds festering in American 
life.
  Our economic freedom allows social media companies to create a 
business model that grows their bottom line. Americans need to 
understand their personal data is harvested for profit.

[[Page S846]]

Advertisers buy the data to influence consumer and voter behavior. The 
bottom line for every American ought to be ensuring that constitutional 
protections aren't archived--out of sight, out of mind--in the annals 
of history.
  I am not saying Big Tech is a bad actor, but I am calling on Big Tech 
to be a good actor. Take responsibility for the online ecosystem you 
created.
  Congress also must take a good, hard look at this famous section 230 
we all talk about that has given these platforms great protection--more 
protection than they probably deserve--and whether, in regard to 
section 230, there is a need to reform immunity laws on the books. I 
think there is great reason to do that.
  We have seen what happens when conversations take place online versus 
in person. Take it from me. The tone of conversation was neighborly and 
civil when I talked with these Iowans last week in Forest City, IA, or 
Ogden, IA, to answer their questions. However civil that is, it is sure 
offset by the incivility on these platforms. Incivility outflanks 
kindness, I think, tenfold in the responses posted on my Twitter 
account.
  We need to work together to heal the unholy civil divide that has 
taken root online. It is bleeding into our way of life, pitting 
neighbor against neighbor, and harming the ability of elected leaders 
to build bipartisan consensus for the public good.
  I am here to put social media platforms, the mainstream media, 
Congress, and the American public on notice: The digital landscape 
needs a reboot. What we do with this space will influence how young 
people participate in civic and political life for generations to come.
  So, in closing, in the coming days, I am going to have more 
conversations with my colleagues on this through a series of speeches. 
I will be talking more about social and mainstream media, censorship, 
and freedom of speech, particularly on college campuses.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Smith). The Senator from Maryland.