Originally published in the Wall Street Journal

‘A monopoly on the means of communication,” Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson wrote in “Leviathan,” their 1975 novel, “may define a ruling elite more precisely than the celebrated Marxian formula of ‘monopoly in the means of production.’ ” Bear that in mind when you hear this next statistic: In 2017 Google and Facebook have accounted for 84% of all digital advertising outside China, including 96% of its growth, according to an industry forecast this month from Zenith, Magna and GroupM. Continue reading “The Google-Facebook Duopoly Threatens Diversity of Thought” →

Originally published in Forbes (coauthored with Adam Candeub)

Opponents of the FCC’s vote to scale back net neutrality rules argue that it enables “powerful companies . . . decide how or when we use the internet,” as Senator Elizabeth Warren put it. However, powerful companies such as Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon all opposed the FCC’s scale back.  Continue reading “Net Neutrality For The Broadband Goose And The Silicon Valley Gander” →

Originally published in US News & World Report (coauthored with Adam Candeub)

The Justice Department’s lawsuit against AT&T and Time Warner appears to fulfill President Donald Trump’s year old promise to block the merger. In October 2016, his campaign vowed to “break up the new media conglomerate oligopolies that have gained enormous control over our information” and that the “oligopolistic realignment of the American media along ideological and corporate lines is destroying an American democracy that depends on a free flow of information and freedom of thought.” Continue reading “Big Tech Is the Real Threat” →