Big Tech’s trial

Washington’s finally come up with a bipartisan issue, and Silicon Valley should be worried. Two Trumprun federal agencies plus highprofile Democrats want an appraisal of how Big Tech may violate antitrust laws.

Attorney General William Barr is unleashing his lawyers to see if the likes of Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple are stifling competition. The Federal Trade Commission is fining Facebook $5 billion for failing to protect consumer privacy. On the presidential campaign trail, Democratic contenders are calling for a crackdown and even a breakup of firms sitting atop search, social media and online commerce.

It’s a strange but useful coming together, given the political chasm that divides the parties.

Conservatives, including President Trump, complain about perceived censorship of their views on social media. Tech voting patterns and political contributions don’t favor the GOP.

On the Democratic side, the Big Tech critics include Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who’s long favored breaking up the major firms, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who’s urged an antitrust review. Those arguments go along with a general Democratic outlook that lax oversight of social media allowed Russian interference in the 2016 election.

In announcing his probe this week, Barr’s Justice Department signaled the broad reach it will take. “Without the discipline of meaningful marketbased competition, digital platforms may act in ways that are not responsive to consumer demands,” said Makan Delrahim, the department’s antitrust chief.

That’s an openminded start. But the public should also be concerned that partisan politics, never far from Washington’s collective mind, will enter the investigations. Big Tech has plenty it needs to explain. But the investigations can’t be allowed to veer off into bashing without facts.