The Techlash After COVID-19
Channel: Foundation for American Innovation
Date: 2020-10-19

On Wednesday, June 3, 2020, Lincoln Network hosted a 1-hour virtual discussion of the past, present, and future of the techlash after COVID-19 in partnership with the American Principles Project.

The technology industry has been subject to a bipartisan “techlash” since the 2016 election. Critics argue leading tech companies have become monopolies, violate user privacy, exploit gig-economy workers, promote addictive behavior, and systematically discriminate. President Obama’s 2011 declaration that the U.S. is the “nation of Google and Facebook” no longer rings true.

Still, the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to upend the techlash narrative. Tech’s response to the crisis, the success of tools like Zoom, and lackluster responses by local, state, and federal governments could shift perceptions of the industry in a positive direction.

Is the techlash over or just getting started? What did the tech industry’s champions and critics get right and wrong? Will a post-COVID-19 world fuel new grievances against Silicon Valley?

Featuring:

Alec Stapp, Director of Technology Policy, Progressive Policy Institute
Matthew Feeney, Director, Cato Institute’s Project on Emerging Technologies
Rachel Bovard, Senior Advisor,  Internet Accountability Project