Where U.S. presidential candidates stand on breaking up Big Tech

By Elizabeth Culliford, Reuters

In the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, America’s big tech companies are being challenged on many fronts from across the political spectrum, from antitrust concerns to their policies on political ads and ensuring election security.

Many of the Democratic presidential candidates have argued in favor of either breaking up or tightening regulation of firms such as Facebook, Alphabet’s Google and Amazon.com.

Republican President Donald Trump’s administration has also stepped up its scrutiny, announcing a wide-ranging investigation in July into whether major digital tech companies engaged in anti-competitive practices.

Trump’s Democratic challengers also criticize online platforms for allowing politicians to make false claims in advertising ahead of the election next November.

Social media platforms are under particular scrutiny after U.S. intelligence agencies said Russia used them to wage an influence operation to interfere with the 2016 election – a claim Moscow has denied.

Here are some of the candidates’ positions on Big Tech.

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