Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) discussed social media regulations on MSNBC.
Fox News reported that Warren, who had long been a proponent of government regulation of social media platforms, insisted that Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter required a change.
"I see that we need to make two big changes. The first one is we need a wealth tax in America. And let’s talk about how Elon’s purchase here was subsidized by tens of millions of people who've paid their taxes every year," Warren said and again referred to her debunked claim that Musk didn't pay any taxes last year.
She argued that more “rules” were needed to uphold democracy.
"The second part is we need rules of the road for Big Tech. But ultimately what all of this boils down to is power," she argued, according to Fox. "Who’s going to have the power in our country? Are we going to make these decisions as a democracy, or is this going to be Elon Musk all by himself, off in a room, a bazillionaire, who just plays by his own set of rules?"
She further alleged that Musk’s purchase of Twitter prevented competition of the platforms.
“So one of the things we need is we need rules so that you can leave the Twitter platform and go to a competitor’s platform and still be able to reach each other," Warren added, according to Fox.
"Right now what we’ve got in tech is we don’t have that kind of competition. Rules of the road could help facilitate that kind of competition and, frankly, break the stranglehold of someone like Elon Musk coming in and just owning the whole thing," she argued, according to Fox.
Warren demurred when she was asked about Musk’s right as owner to make Twitter a private company in adherence to free-market principles.
“This is not like buying some company that produces cars or some company that produces soap,” she claimed, according to Fox. “This is about buying a platform for communication among millions of people."
She finally said that Musk should not be able to “make up the rules” for tech platforms.
"The tech platforms have created something that is different, and right now it is just basically unregulated," Warren said, according to Fox. "It’s just out there for Elon Musk to make up the rules, and that’s why it is that we need to step in and say platforms like this need rules of the road on communication and so that there will be competition with other platforms."
Musk joked about Warren’s obsession with him on Twitter last year after she claimed he did not pay any taxes.
"You remind me of when I was a kid and my friend’s angry Mom would just randomly yell at everyone for no reason," he tweeted. "Please don’t call the manager on me, Senator Karen."
He noted that he paid “more taxes” than anyone.
“And if you opened your eyes for 2 seconds, you would realize I will pay more taxes than any American in history this year.” the tweet read.
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