A familiar group of former intelligence officials penned a letter calling on Congress to protect Big Tech’s monopoly power over the flow of online information in the name of national security, namely to fight against Russian “disinformation.”
The letter, signed by Obama-era DHS, CIA, and DNI officials on Monday, warns that pending legislation seeking to break up Google, Facebook, and Amazon’s monopoly would jeopardize national security and undermine US policy to fight back against Russia and China’s “digital authoritarianism.”
“In the face of these growing threats, U.S. policymakers must not inadvertently hamper the ability of U.S. technology platforms to counter increasing disinformation and cybersecurity risks, particularly as the West continues to rely on the scale and reach of these firms to push back on the Kremlin,” the officials wrote.
“But recently proposed congressional legislation would unintentionally curtail the ability of these platforms to target disinformation efforts and safeguard the security of their users in the U.S. and globally.”
These Deep State officials then call on numerous congressional committees with close ties to the national security state to review all legislation that seek to break up Big Tech or promote market competition in the social media space.
“We call on the congressional committees with national security jurisdiction – including the Armed Services Committees, Intelligence Committees, and Homeland Security Committees in both the House and Senate – to conduct a review of any legislation that could hinder America’s key technology companies in the fight against cyber and national security risks emanating from Russia’s and China’s growing digital authoritarianism.”
Journalist Glenn Greenwald noted in his SubStack on Wednesday that these officials have a vested financial and political interest to protect Big Tech’s “stranglehold on political discourse”, and their letter is a blatant “act of desperation.”
