Biden Speaks Out Against Targeted Ads and Data Privacy

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed this week, issues around data privacy, censorship, and value ownership of data and content by big tech platforms were called out by none other than the U.S President Joe Biden. 

President Biden has called on lawmakers from both parties to pass legislation holding big tech and social media companies accountable, and has accused some in the tech industry of exploiting users’ personal data as well as endangering children.

Mr. Biden emphasized the importance of protecting users’ privacy by limiting how these companies use, collect, and share personal data. He also recommended limiting targeted advertising and banning it altogether for minors.

The president also reaffirmed his long standing push to rewrite Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which shields companies from liability for user-generated content. He has called for more information about the algorithms companies use to filter information to users. Mr. Biden also put a focus on the need for greater competition in the tech sector to ensure that American tech continues to lead the world in cutting-edge innovation.

The tech industry claims it already faces substantial competition, and companies have generally supported a national privacy law as long as it does not disrupt their core advertising businesses. 

In response, newly empowered House Republican lawmakers are planning a raft of investigations into the Biden administration and the tech industry. They have formed the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, which is expected to probe what some Republicans claim have been efforts by the Biden administration to influence content hosted by companies such as Facebook and Google.

Privacy legislation, particularly addressing the collection of data about children’s online activities, has been an area of interest on Capitol Hill for some time, but lawmakers have yet to reach a broad, bipartisan compromise. Mr. Biden’s support could help restart those talks, and his op-ed also cited a privacy rule-making currently underway at the Federal Trade Commission aimed at similar issues.

Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, the new chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, said in a statement that Mr. Biden was right to call out “risks posed by Big Tech”.

Web3 platforms that are building solutions to address all these issues caused by centralized control and ownership of user data, are likely to benefit from the shifting approach from governments towards “Big Tech”. 

Projects like Ocean Protocol, Lens Protocol, Permission and Swash App focus on decentralized blockchain-based platforms and software that give internet users more control over their privacy and ownership of their data when online. This movement aims to remove the barriers created by ‘walled gardens’ online built and monetized by Google, Facebook, Apple and others, as well as find solutions to concerns around biased or influenced content filtering and moderation, which plays heavily into politics as shown in the U.S in recent years.

Increasing concentration of control and power within a small set of large companies online, and the increasing push from government to exert influence and regulation, could be seen as setting up the perfect storm for billions of internet users to seek a better way forward via new alternatives offered by web3.