A lawmaker's view on why it is so hard to regulate big tech.

From American public media, this is Marketplace Tech.

I'm Lily Jramale. A week later, we are still thinking about the hearing that saw half a dozen

tech CEOs testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the topic of

keeping kids safe online. It left us wondering why. Why do lawmakers hold these hearings then fail

again and again to pass federal laws to keep big tech in check? What came across

was how the importance of that is one of the few

things that a lot of Democratic and Republican senators can actually agree on.

Take for example the Shield Act, a bill co-sponsored by members of both parties.

One of those members is Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.

She told me it is hard to get bills like that through Congress given how much influence

tech companies wield in Washington. The companies have tried to do a number of

things to stop these bills on the competition side, private side, and kids side. So here's what they do.

The first move, always an easy one, oh Congress is too dumb to understand this.

That's not true of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

No one can say that.

You might disagree with people, but they do understand it.

Second one, divide and conquer.

They tell Republicans, oh, if you do this,

it'll stop free enterprise. They tell Democrats if you do this, it'll stop free enterprise.

They tell Democrats if you do this,

you're not going to be able to protect people.

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