Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s fundraising emails are using the Massachusetts Democrat’s calls to break up big tech companies to raise cash, but they’re also directing potential donors to her social media pages.
Warren’s new batch of fundraising emails target tech titans such as Facebook, Amazon and Google, telling potential donors that these “giant corporations are gearing up to fight back” against the senator’s calls to dismantle their business models. Her young 2020 presidential campaign is hoping to capitalize on a series of reports showing Facebook used various tools to share users’ private data.
“Things are changing,” her email reads. “All over the country, more and more people are raising their voices and demanding something different: A government that works for everyone, not just the wealthy and well-connected.” The email also coincidentally directs constituents to Warren’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, which is owned by Google.
Elizabeth Warren’s fundraising emails are dumping on big tech while directing donors to Facebook. (Screencap of Warren’s email)
Warren wants to impose new rules on tech companies with $25 billion or more in annual ad revenue, forcing Facebook and Google to reduce their hold on the online market. The plan also aims to curtail mergers between companies like Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp.
Warren said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that she would be willing to break up Facebook and prevent the giant Silicon Valley company from pairing with the likes of Instagram — Facebook acquired Instagram in April 2012 for $1 billion. (RELATED: Warren: ‘We Can Go Back’ And Keep Facebook From Buying Instagram)
Silhouettes of laptop users are seen next to a screen projection of Facebook logo in this picture illustration taken March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
“It’s possible to go back under antitrust and just say, look, we let this merger go through,” she said during the interview. “Often, the mergers are on conditions — conditional that they aren’t going to do this or do that — but let the merger go through, and it turns out that it has anti-competitive effects. And if it has anti-competitive effects, then we can go back and unwind these deals, break these pieces apart.”
Her fundraising emails reveal a large problem with Warren’s strategy: She is seeking to disrupt the business model of a major social media company whose platform can help her campaign reach a large number of potential donors. Warren’s office has not yet responded to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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