{"id":106485,"date":"2020-09-01T12:04:09","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T19:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=106485"},"modified":"2020-09-01T12:10:57","modified_gmt":"2020-09-01T19:10:57","slug":"economic-liberties-new-report-highlights-facebook-googles-damaging-effects-on-local-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=106485","title":{"rendered":"Economic Liberties\u2019 New Report Highlights Facebook & Google\u2019s Damaging Effects on Local Communities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Washington, D.C…Following the Antitrust Subcommittee\u2019s remarkable hearing with the CEOs Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, and\u00a0as the Subcommittee prepares its final plan of action to take on big tech, the American Economic Liberties Project today released \u201cClose to Home: How the Power of Facebook and Google Effects Local Communities.\u201d Authored by Pat Garofalo, Economic Liberties\u2019 Director of State and Local Policy, the paper analyzes the ways Facebook and Google have harmed local businesses and destroyed local journalism, exposes the political strategies they use to extract subsidies from local communities, and details solutions \u2013 at both the federal and local level \u2013 to readjust the legal underpinning of this dangerous business model.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFacebook and Google present themselves as vital partners in local economies, but they create several demonstrable harms in our communities,\u201d\u00a0said Pat Garofalo, Director of State and Local Policy at the American Economic Liberties Project. \u201c<\/strong>Their business models incentivize the spread of scams that hurt local businesses and customers, and their undermining of local newspapers aids in the deterioration of discourse and the spread of conspiracy theories. Both federal and local officials can and should take concrete steps to rein in these abusive and extractive monopolies in order to mitigate the harms we all experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Facebook and Google are the platforms on which local shops and restaurants connect to customers, on which local news is disseminated, and on which citizens organize everything from school bake sales to local elections to neighborhood clean-ups. But their business models are not based on serving consumers with the most credible information and facilitating neutral communications among friends, family, and community stakeholders.<\/p>\n

Facebook and Google\u2019s power stems from the monopolies they\u2019ve built in digital advertising. They sell user attention, enriched with data, to advertisers, often monetizing content they didn\u2019t generate but are profiting from, with users manipulated into further engagement with their properties. And they use their monopoly power to dictate terms to local communities, demanding benefits from small and mid-size cities that they don\u2019t need, as well as secrecy that prevents local voters from holding the companies and their elected officials accountable.<\/p>\n

Reducing Facebook and Google\u2019s harms at the local level requires both federal and local solutions. \u201cClose to Home\u201d outlines six, including:<\/p>\n