Big Tech critic named to White House panel

President Joe Biden on Friday named Tim Wu, a Columbia University law professor, to the National Economic Council as a special assistant to the president for technology and competition policy, putting one of the most outspoken critics of Big Tech’s power into the administration.

The appointment of Wu, 48, who is widely supported by progressive Democrats and anti-monopoly groups, suggests the administration plans to take on the size and influence of companies like Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google, including working with Congress on legislation to strengthen antitrust laws. During his campaign, Biden said he would be open to breaking up tech companies.

Biden has also expressed skepticism toward social media companies and the legal shield known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. He told The New York Times editorial board in January 2020 that Section 230 “should be revoked, immediately.”

The tech companies have fought vigorously against new antitrust laws and regulations, building out some of the most potent lobbying forces in Washington to push back.

Wu has warned about the consequences of too much power in the hands of a few companies.

“Extreme economic concentration yields gross inequality and material suffering, feeding the appetite for nationalistic and extremist leadership,” Wu wrote in his 2018 book, “The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age.”