Letter to Republicans in Congress regarding Big Tech funding

Congressional staff should reconsider meetings with organizations that receive money from Big Tech companies.

I received a fair amount of pushback on my Substack post last month highlighting Big Tech’s ongoing effort to win favor on the Right by contributing millions of dollars to think tanks and publications, which in turn advocate for policies favored by these Silicon Valley companies. No surprise there — a number of center-right organizations depend on annual six-figure grants, either from the Big Tech-friendly Koch network or from Big Tech companies directly, in order to stay operational. It’s understandable that some might get upset at me for attacking that funding or for suggesting that it might come with a credibility cost.

However, I stand by everything I wrote. And I’m not going to stop ringing this bell.

If Big Tech companies pay for a tech policy staffer’s salary, or his organization’s expenses, that money effectively pays for his platform. It doesn’t matter whether he earnestly believes the Google talking points or not. The money flows because he is using his organization’s credibility in right-wing circles to try and persuade Republican lawmakers not to regulate or interfere with the actions of Big Tech companies in any way. That’s the point of the funding. That’s how Washington works.

Read the rest on Jon Schweppe’s Substack.