Pluralistic: How US states and international trustbusters can beat Big Tech (07 Jul 2026)
The article argues that while Big Tech has merged with the Trump administration and global antitrust enforcement has weakened, U.S. state attorneys general can use federal antitrust laws to take on tech giants. It suggests that states should collaborate with international enforcers, who share the same legal frameworks, to hold companies like Meta and Google accountable.
Background
- Cory Doctorow is a tech journalist and activist who writes Pluralistic, a blog about digital rights, monopolies, and corporate power.
- Under Biden, enforcers like Lina Khan (FTC) aggressively pursued Big Tech antitrust cases — a revival after decades of weak enforcement.
- After Trump's re-election, Big Tech has fused with the US government, killing federal antitrust action. The article argues US states (via Attorneys General) can fill the gap by enforcing the same federal antitrust laws that foreign countries inherited from the Marshall Plan.
- Since tech companies run identical monopolistic practices everywhere, state AGs and foreign enforcers can collaborate directly — sharing evidence and enforcing each other's judgments — without needing the captured federal government.
- Example of captured regulation: Ireland's new data protection regulator is a former Meta lobbyist; Meta has used gag orders to silence whistleblowers.