New poll: Americans don't support breaking up tech

Have you ever noticed how impressively out of touch politicians are with everyday Americans? I’m pretty sure most of them couldn’t hit public opinion with a rock if they had to.

In the latest example, NetChoice (where I am a Fellow) just released a new national poll conducted by Echelon Insights that found a staggering 89% of people do not support breaking up big tech companies and want Congress to focus on inflation instead. Not only that, but the poll also found that people—quite astutely—believe initiatives that target the tech industry would cause prices to rise even further.

The poll surveyed 9,543 registered American voters nationally and in 14 states.

Meanwhile, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and her clan have been hard at work over the past couple of months working to strongarm through one of her many antitrust agenda items that target the tech sector. While she thankfully has not been able to muster the support to get any of those bills through, Congress is devoting a significant amount of time to these efforts and they have unfortunately gained some Republican support.

Antitrust is an anti-capitalist trojan horse. As I discussed in this evergreen piece on the topic, politicians claim they use antitrust to protect the competition and defend the free market. But in practice, it is actually the way they go about regulating the activities of companies that they have no business in doing so, and seizing more control of the market.

The tech industry has made a lot of enemies, there’s no denying that. The Left believes these platforms do not censor people enough while the Right believes they target conservative views. That makes this sector an easy target for people like Klobuchar, but make no mistake, she wouldn’t stop there if she got her way with these bills—many of which greatly expand the power of the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice.

Unelected bureaucrats and politicians already do a terrible job running our government. There’s no reason anyone would hope for a tech sector run by these same people, which is why Americans are wisely rejecting these initiatives.

“The American people want Congress to prioritize inflation and economic instability, not beltway-born antitrust proposals that could raise prices,” said Steve DelBianco, President & CEO of NetChoice. “Ahead of the midterm elections, Congress should listen to voters and focus on the economy rather than passing bills that will hurt Americans, suppress competition, and increase inflation.”

With inflation at a shocking 8.3%, It’s time for politicians to get off the backs of industry and get down to their actual business at hand. The economy needs fewer regulations, more innovation, and growth to fix the problems politicians created in the first place.

What we don’t need is more central planners sticking their noses where they don’t belong.

Hannah Cox is a fellow at NetChoice.

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