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State AGs target tech as lawmakers’ efforts to hammer companies are lacking



Democratic and Republican attorneys generals are targeting big tech companies in court seeking to rein in their power through the judicial system as an alternative to legislation that isn’t gaining momentum in Congress.

DC Attorney General Karl A. Racine is suing Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for alleged consumer protection violations, saying he should hold major corporate CEOs accountable for their actions.

Mr Racine claimed to have evidence showing Mr Zuckerberg was personally involved in the data leak that allowed political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to target Facebook users during the 2016 presidential race.

“This lawsuit is not only warranted, but necessary, and sends a message that company leaders, including CEOs, will be held accountable for their actions,” Mr Racine said on Monday.

Mr Racine’s lawsuit said his company Cambridge Analytica leaked the personal data of 70 million Facebook users in the US, including 340,000 people in DC, to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Facebook, which has been rebranded as Meta, did not respond to a request for comment.


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The DC attorney general has repeatedly opposed Facebook.

Last year, a federal judge overturned an antitrust lawsuit filed by several dozen state attorneys general, including Mr. Racine.

Mr. Racine first sued Facebook in 2018 over allegations that the platform failed to protect people’s data, and later tried to involve Mr. Zuckerberg in the case. According to the New York Times, the Supreme Court for the District of Columbia blocked Mr. Racine’s effort at a hearing in March, and now Mr. Racine is pursuing Mr. Zuckerberg individually.

Texas, which participated in the failed antitrust lawsuit, targeted other platforms such as Twitter and Google.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican facing his primary challenge in Tuesday’s runoff, has positioned himself as a strong fighter against Big Tech. His office said it filed five lawsuits against Google last week.

Mr. Paxton sought to investigate Twitter’s censorship practices after the platform banned former President Donald Trump, and the Texan successfully fended off a challenge to his investigation from Twitter earlier this year. A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case Twitter brought against Paxton, accusing him of retaliating against the Trump ban.

More recently, Mr. Paxton defended Texas’ new social media law in a lawsuit before the Supreme Court. The law aims to stop censorship by directing social media platforms with more than 50 million active users not to discriminate against the perspectives of Texans.

Last week, Mr. Paxton urged the Supreme Court to allow his laws to be enforced over the objection of tech industry trade groups. The Computer and Communications Industry Association and NetChoice have asked the supreme court to overturn a federal appeals court to lift a blockade of the law.

“Relevant applicants here, whose members include Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter (platforms), are asserting a First Amendment right to refuse service to their customers based on the perspectives these customers hold,” Mr Paxton wrote. “This Court has never recognized such a right and should not now do so to waive a stay.”

The Supreme Court has yet to resolve the dispute between Texas and tech groups.

State prosecutors’ efforts to fight tech companies in the courts have garnered praise from vocal critics of the technology.

Mike Davis, founder of the conservative Internet Accountability Project, supports attorneys’ efforts to crack down on technology.

“Holding Big Tech accountable is a priority for the American people and we are pleased that attorneys general across the country are responding to their voters,” said Mr. Davis.

While legislation aimed at restricting the activities of big tech companies has stalled in Congress, that could soon change. Antitrust legislation could be reviewed this summer, pending final consideration by the full Senate, according to Axios.

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer spoke last week to Democratic Sens., Minnesota, to discuss putting a revised version of antitrust legislation targeting the technology to the vote. He reportedly met up with Amy Klobuchar and Richard J. Durbin of Illinois.

Matt Stoller of the Liberal American Economic Freedoms Project urged Mr. Schumer on Monday to submit antitrust proposals for the vote. Mr Stoller said on Twitter that Mr Schumer should hold the vote and criticized the New York Democrat as “a consistent amplifier of monopoly power”.





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