U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday rounded out his White House staff with a host of new appointments focused on COVID-19, criminal justice, the economy and other major issues, including a new top adviser on technology and competition issues.
The White House announced six additional staffers to its National Economic Council, including Columbia University professor Tim Wu, who coined the term “net neutrality” and has warned against an economy dominated by a few giant firms.
“Putting this twitter feed on hold for now — so long!” Wu, a former senior enforcement counsel to New York’s attorney general and a former Federal Trade Commission adviser, said in a post on his appointment.
Big Tech encompasses the world’s biggest technology companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and Google <GOOGL,O>, and some of Biden’s fellow Democrats have raised questions about their increasing dominance.
Congressional Democrats have already begun talks with the White House on ways to crack down on tech companies, including making them responsible for disinformation and addressing their market power.
Several Republicans have also sought to hit back at Big Tech, including efforts to scrap a law known as Section 230 that shields online companies for liability over users’ posted content.
In the White House statement on new staff, Biden also named 13 additions to his Domestic Policy Council and two more staffers to the White House COVID-19 response team.
REUTERS