Texas is leading a coalition looking into the vast, and potentially monopolistic, power and influence of Facebook and Google, the state’s Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday.
Paxton made the revelation while speaking at a Zoom videoforum discussing the conservative movement’s free-speech concerns about Facebook’s new, liberal-dominated, global oversight board charged with overseeing content removal and disputes. Paxton was joined by fellow speakers Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), First Liberty Institute President Kelly Shackelford, and moderator Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, which hosted the event
The initial focus of the investigation is to “follow the money,” Paxton said:
“I’m actually in the middle of an investigation of Facebook and Google. Several years ago, we became concerned about the potential monopolistic power of some of these technology companies.
“And, one of the things I learned a long time ago in business school when I was at Baylor University is: follow the money. And, so, that’s what we’re doing. We’re more than focused on Texas; we’re leading a 51-state coalition – which includes some territories – investigating Google.
“We’ve been doing that since the Fall. We were, really started part of that. We’re also involved in the investigation of Facebook, which also started, pretty much, the same time.”
Paxton said the coalition shares the fears voiced by the nation’s Founders: too much power in the hands of too few. And, while their investigation is currently trying to follow the money, it is also worried about content-control gives technology giants like Facebook vast power to influence consumer behavior, such as what they buy and how they vote.
Replies
Go after them hard because they have been censoring and pushing certain things onto the people
Along as profiting on the sale of our personal information and habits
I am with you all the way.
All Socialist Media In Need Of Cleaning Up!
Oh Please - continue this mission. I have run into problems with facebook & google. I forward a right leaning text to friends of mine and they never receive them. Ken Paxton, please continue the fight!! Thank you for your concern!! George Bleick, Tyler, TX.
that's right
Go for it and it's going to be very interesting to find out what's in it.
Oh Yeah! Sic the Rottweillers on them. Break them into 1000 little pieces.
Exactly
Just like they did with Ma Bell. Telephone