What does the Biden administration mean for Big Tech

President Joe Biden in a new Congress represent a massive change to DCs treatment of big tech. We're gonna dive into all the issues and tell you what it's all about. The tech giants Apple, Facebook, Amazon and alphabet have too much power. These companies face a huge amount of scrutiny from lawmakers in 2020. It's gonna get even more intense with the new administration alphabets. Google and Facebook already faced multiple lawsuits from state and federal agencies. The Federal Trade Commission is pushing to break up Facebook, the Justice Department called Google monopoly. It's unclear whether Biden will persist with a lawsuit or if Congress will take legislative means to curtail the power but it's clear something is going to happen. There's not much Democrats and Republicans agree on, but one area where there's Common Ground is repealing section 230. It's a clause in the 1996 communications decency act that protects tech companies from lawsuits over the content posted on their platforms. Biden has been an outspoken critic of Section 230 arguing that allows companies to get off too easily for letting their platforms spread disinformation and hate speech. Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, slammed section 230 because they believe it allows the social media giants to censor conservatives. In the waning days of the Trump administration, the FCC was tasked to write new regulations for Section 230. But that's unlikely to continue under Biden. He'll likely defer to Congress to change the law. And we've already seen legislation introduced in this area. The fight over net neutrality is back. While Biden hasn't commented much on the issue, it's likely that a democratically controlled FCC will take on the task of restoring the rules. Like govern an open Internet. The agency could restore the Obama era rules, potentially. But Biden's track record suggests he could hold off. He never sponsored or supported net neutrality legislation as a senator. He also has a close relationship with Comcast executives have lobbied against the rules. And even if the FCC does revert back to tighter regulations, a Republican-controlled FCC could just reverse this move down the line. If we want to see a lasting impact, Congress will need to enact a binding net neutrality law. Privacy has become a major issue. Consumers now understand more clearly how much of their data is being used to target them for ads. And how vulnerable they are to hacks and data breaches. Biden didn't say much about data privacy on the campaign trail, but he has vowed to hire a world class cybersecurity team. Biden will likely work with Congress where lawmakers on both sides are working on their own privacy regulations. They could take a page out of existing laws in Europe such as GDPR. We're California, which just passed its own privacy rights act. Keep in mind, vice-president Kamala Harris hails from that state by in his car, rebuilding the middle-class in America. The moral obligation of our time revitalizing rural America and offering more access to broadband is a cornerstone of that effort. A big part of his rural economic development strategy is investing $20 billion. Getting broadband access to communities that don't have it. As we've seen with the Coronavirus, lockdown those able to work from home or access the internet, we're far better able to write out the pandemic than those who couldn't get a speedy connection. It's a problem that virtually everyone agrees needs to be solved. Here's hoping that the pandemic and this new administration. Finally solves this puzzle. We'll be following the Biden administration and DC his efforts to crowd big tech all year long. cnet.com is your go to spot for all that information.