The Most Powerful Person in Tech Is … David Cicilline?

Posted by Bloomberg

The Most Powerful Person in Tech Is … David Cicilline?

By Joe Nocera

When David Cicilline was approached at the beginning of the last Congress about becoming the ranking member of the antitrust subcommittee 1 of the House Judiciary Committee, his first inclination was to say no. Cicilline, a Democrat from Rhode Island, knew almost nothing about antitrust law. “Even as a practicing lawyer, this was not my field of expertise,” he says.

But he eventually agreed to take the post, and spent the next two years getting up to speed on the complex issues surrounding megamergers, oligopolies, concentration of power and, not least, the societal problems posed by Facebook and Google, which he calls “the platforms.”

Today, with the Democrats in control of the House, Cicilline has become the chairman of the subcommittee. And he has big plans. Suffice it to say that if someone were to ask me who is going to be the most important person in tech in 2019, I’d rank Cicilline well ahead of Mark Zuckerberg. My interview with the congressman, which I’ve edited and condensed, took place Friday.

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