Very mixed opinions on today’s AT&T verdict. While the specifics are complex, this is another move toward allowing more monopolies in the US economy, especially in the information economy. Monopolies are already a big problem, especially in the digital and tech platforms.
But fundamentally I think this is a good decision because there is no question in my mind that this happened because President Trump wants to punish unfriendly press coverage. CNN has plenty of problems. It’s hard to call it ‘independent’. It’s part of a huge mega-corporation and it’s about to be folded into an even huger mega-corporation. But fundamentally this is about a lawless President using his presidential powers to exact an economic cost to criticizing him. That fact should trump the specifics of AT&T’s market power. In any foreseeable future, major media is controlled by big corporations. If the President can get away with exacting a big economic price for not following the Fox News line, we’ve lost a big part of the fight.
