Brian Fung | @[email protected]

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Our last livestream was so fun, we're doing it again! On Thursday around 11:30 ET, @donie, @kyurieff, @jonsarlin and I will be chatting with y'all before the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter testify in Congress. Drop your question below now, and we may feature it on stream! — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Aaaand we’re back. What’s new? — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Every day I get to work alongside these talented, badass Asian journalists. They belong here, just like you. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

See y’all later. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

And with that, I’m off for the next week! — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

RT @ryanobles: UPDATE: @Amazon has informed the Senate Budget Committee that @JeffBezos will not be able to accept their invitation for him… — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

NEW: Amazon has told the Senate Budget Committee that Bezos will not be able to testify next week at the hearing on economic inequality: https://t.co/Tls5Xe2M19 — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

@EkbMary Here you go: https://t.co/f7qOK6WbzN — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

The hearing has wrapped. This was kind of a mixed bag, I think -- raising more questions than answers about the future of this legislation. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

RT @shanvav: Biden's national security adviser @jakejsullivan just now says he's not in a position to say definitively that China is behind… — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

RT @sarahkaplan48: The Post is looking for a climate solutions editor! Cons: - You'll have deal with my stories always being 10-15 inches… — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Rep. Scott Fitzgerald is talking about his own experiences as a longtime newspaper publisher. A key problem, he says, is that internet advertising has created incentives for journalism to cover only the things that make money. "It's had a direct effect on straight news." — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Rep. Bishop asks about this, questioning why Congress should seek to correct a lack of competition in one area by enabling coordination by other actors. Smith goes back to his claim that we're seeing unintended consequences from the antitrust laws. https://t.co/uPRRVjGtW1 — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

@haroldfeld Can you tell me more about that? — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Really frustrated by this. There is not a First Amendment obligation for private companies to host the speech of politicians. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

News Media Alliance's David Chavern: "We currently have a system that devalues [news] content and constrains our capacity to deliver good information." — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Smith says that the limitations on collective negotiation are an "unintended consequence" of antitrust laws that make such coordination illegal. IMO the unintended consequence was the tech platforms' impact on news, not laws meant to bar anticompetitive collusion generally. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Theater aside, this hearing raises really difficult questions about whether an antitrust exemption for news publishers will be a key protection for journalism, or if it'll be a band-aid solution papering over deeper problems. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

News Media Alliance's David Chavern notes that antitrust lawsuits take years to play out. "We have an immediate problem" in news. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Rep. Gaetz uses his question time to tell Glenn Greenwald that he reads him frequently on Substack. What is even happening — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

@matthewstoller @birnbaum_e @nancyscola This is amazing. Y'all have some sharp eyes! — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Schleuss also targets hedge funds for gobbling up struggling papers and cutting Americans off from the news they need. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

RT @viaCristiano: Microsoft president Brad Smith's written testimony before House Judiciary today mentions Google 7⃣5⃣ times ‼️ By contra… — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Jonathan Schleuss, who represents unionized journalists, says the local news industry is facing "an extinction-level event." — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Smith tells lawmakers: "I think you all are on the right path. That's why Microsoft is endorsing the Journalism Competition and Protection Act, to give news organizations the ability to negotiate collectively -- including with Microsoft." — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

In his written testimony, Smith says: "The problems that beset journalism today are caused in part by a fundamental lack of competition in the search and ad tech markets that are controlled by Google." — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Microsoft's Brad Smith testifying now before the House: "The news in America today is not alive and well." — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

RT @kerrymflynn: "We cannot have a democracy without a free and diverse press." - @RepCicilline, chair of the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Co… — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

It's not clear what, if any, specific workplace policies Rubio has in mind when he refers to Amazon as an "enthusiastic culture warrior." If anything, the trend in Silicon Valley has been workers agitating for *employers* to be more progressive, rather than vice versa. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Sen. Rubio sides with Amazon workers pushing for unionization in Alabama, saying a union would serve as a defense against "'woke' human resources" policies https://t.co/jwYwfp8zo9 — PolitiTweet.org