Tech Oversight Project
@techoversight
The Tech Oversight Project is a nonprofit dedicated to holding Big Tech accountable by passing comprehensive antitrust, privacy protections, and children's safety legislation. Sign up for our weekly newsletter: dispatch.techoversight.org
One hot topic where that's especially true: Data centers. Battleground voters not only oppose data centers, they also don't buy the industry's spin, particularly when it comes to jobs.
Frustration with Big Tech is wide and deep, with deeply unfavorable views of Big Tech companies and their data centers.
A near-supermajority 65% of battleground voters believe that Big Tech/AI CEOs profit off harmful, addictive products – then use that $$$ to manipulate politics & maximize their own profits at all of our expense.
New @navigatorsurvey.bsky.social: BIG TECH IS A BIG NO ☝️ Battleground voters have very serious concerns about Big Tech's role in American society, see tech CEOs as part of the corruption problem in DC, and overwhelmingly want their lawmakers to act.
This u, bro? Author of @sacbee.com op-ed slamming CA’s anti-monopoly COMPETE Act & fearmongering about Google impacts was paid >$150,000 by Google
DOUBLE STANDARD ALERT: For Meta whistleblower: a gag order, surveillance at public events, & millions in $ penalties for each alleged violation of her non-disparagement deal - aka for daring to speak For Zuckerberg: White House help dodging basic Qs about why he lied to Congress & endangered kids
TRENDS: ➡️ By a 2-to-1 margin, Leading the Future has spent more money boosting Republicans and attacking Dems than on pro-Democratic ads ➡️ LTF has spent $4.76 million on ads for Dem incumbents without serious races or challengers ➡️ LTF's spending closely mirrors Trump’s
Journalists, researchers, and the public can toggle by super PAC network and expand on any of the dark money orgs we're tracking for campaign finance data, political research, analysis, and recent reporting.
NEW: Today, TOP launched a first-of-its-kind AI Super PAC research book and ad library to provide journalists, researchers, and the public with real-time campaign finance data, political research, and a plethora of ads Big Tech is running across the country. 🧵 More details ⬇️
📍 MA-3, @trahan.house.gov: 👎 63% oppose her effort to weaken catastrophic-risk laws. 👎 71% oppose weakening Massachusetts' chatbot safety laws.
📍 CA-23, Rep. Jay Obernolte: 👎 56% oppose his effort to weaken California's AI catastrophic-risk laws. 👎 58% oppose weakening California's chatbot safety laws.
Statement from TOP Executive Director @sachalouise.bsky.social: The Obernolte-Trahan bill replaces a state floor with a federal ceiling and trades away existing and future child safety, civil rights, and consumer protection laws for nothing in return.
TOP-PPP POLLING: Voters in Rep. Jay Obernolte (CA-23) and @trahan.house.gov's (MA-3) districts oppose their push to weaken and preempt AI safety laws. Their bill would let Big Tech wipe out state child safety, civil rights & consumer protections. 🧵
MUSK vs. ALTMAN: More than just "the girls are fighting," this case represents an absolute lose-lose for the American people. An OpenAI win opens the door to cynical for-profit conversion plays with no accountability. A Musk win paves the way for his own potential AI monopoly.
$653 million in political donations. $200,000 a day in lobbying. 307 lobbyists — more than 1 for every 2 members of Congress. You don't spend like this when the public is on your side. You spend like this when you need to buy the referees. Read this week's Dispatch for more.
LTF is backed by Trump's loudest supporters. They directly profit from unsafe AI products and power ICE's surveillance and terrorization of our communities. We're asking @repsuhas.bsky.social, @gomez.house.gov, @repyvetteclarke.bsky.social, @liccardo.house.gov, and Rep. Gottheimer to disavow LTF.
If unchecked, Big Tech's agenda will lead to mass unemployment, unsafe AI products, and taxpayer-funded subsidies and gifts for the richest companies in the world. Don't believe us? Take their word for it. It's playing out right now.
NEW: Big Tech's AI money is flooding campaigns across the country. OpenAI, Palantir, and a16z are spending hundreds of millions to oppose candidates who support AI safety, chatbot protections, and data privacy. We're calling on Dems to disavow Big Tech's Trump-connected backers.
"We have fought on Capitol Hill to get reforms through. Nobody heard us. Capitol Hill, hear us now ... Parents, we need you to join in with us because it stops today. Big Tech, your gig is over." – Lori Schott, survivor parent advocate
Survivor parent advocate Julianna Arnold: "We're headed to DC with the evidence we have in hand and this verdict, and we're demanding safety protections and legislation to keep kids safe online."
Internal Google research also showed teens were harmed, with "prolonged unintentional use" displacing "valuable activities like time with friends or sleep."
A 2012 YouTube document admitted the company was not measuring user well-being effectively and described its goal as "viewer addiction." The plaintiff’s lawyers described YouTube as a “digital casino.”
Instagram developed an explicit internal business strategy to addict multiple generations of American families to its platform, deliberately using teenagers as the gateway to recruit parents, younger siblings, and grandparents.
During Mark Zuckerberg’s court testimony, plaintiff’s attorney Mark Lanier showed the jury an email in which Zuckerberg set a 2016 company goal of increasing users' time spent on the platform by 12%, directly contradicting his 2024 congressional testimony.
The trials have already produced an unprecedented public record of damning internal company documents. One Meta employee wrote "oh my gosh yall IG is a drug." Another responded: "Lol, I mean, all social media. We're basically pushers."
WHERE WE GO FROM HERE: We’re waiting for the jury’s verdict. But the public’s verdict is already in. Outrage across the country and the political spectrum has built to a fever pitch. As this year’s landmark trials continue, so will demands for Congress to act to protect kids & hold CEOs accountable
A YOUTH-LED MOVEMENT: Young people know firsthand what it feels like to grow up being exploited by social media companies, and they spoke out and stood up, showing up outside the courthouse and editorializing in favor of change. www.thepostathens.com/article/202...
HOOK THE TEEN, HOOK THE FAMILY: Internal docs and whistleblower testimony revealed an explicit internal business strategy to addict multiple generations of families to Instagram, deliberately using teenagers as the gateway. techoversight.org/bigtechontr...
GET THEM YOUNG: Instagram’s Adam Mosseri was caught in his own words when confronted with past statements about social media addiction, document deletion, and targeting kids under 13. techoversight.org/2026/02/13/...