Rep. Darrell Issa argues technology executives are shooting themselves in the foot by letting political views creep into policy debates. Drew Angerer / Getty Images
Rep. Darrell Issa believes technology executives who publicly push back against President Donald Trump are shooting themselves in the foot. Even though the California Republican isn't running for another term in 2018, his stance probably won't shock anyone.
Still, having served as one of Trump's key tech advisors during the 2016 transition and remaining a leading GOP voice on technology matters, Issa's words carry real weight.
He argues that executives increasingly critical of Trump and his administration — both on policy and social matters — are making a strategic misstep. Take Apple CEO Tim Cook, who is openly gay and condemned Trump's July decision to bar transgender individuals from serving in the military. "We owe a debt to everyone who serves," Cook remarked. "Holding anyone back through prejudice holds all of us back."
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted, "I stand with the Dreamers," once Trump revealed plans to dismantle DACA, the Obama-era initiative shielding undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from removal.
"Your political views and your policy positions don't always need to align," Issa remarked during a 37-minute conversation at the CES gadget expo in Las Vegas earlier this month. "Officers of public companies in the tech space are getting bad counsel when they issue those statements, because those remarks, frankly, are supposed to serve shareholders' best interests — and frequently they don't."
A 17-year congressional veteran, Issa is recognized for his combative partisan tone, which surfaced during the interview when he took issue with several of my questions, claiming they reflected bias. His perspective offers a glimpse into how the Republican Party and Washington power brokers are navigating ties with the tech sector.
Crucially, Issa's outlook on government and technology hints at just how steep a climb the industry faces in lobbying to lock in net neutrality protections — rules intended to guarantee equal handling of internet traffic. Netflix, Amazon, and Google, along with 83 percent of Americans, opposed last month's rollback of the 2015 regulations enforcing net neutrality.
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Issa labels those regulations a "power grab" by the FCC chair during the Obama administration and confirmed he wouldn't back legislation codifying equal traffic treatment into statute.
In his view, bodies like the Federal Trade Commission — tasked with combating anticompetitive practices and safeguarding consumers — ought to police net neutrality matters. Detractors counter that the FTC doesn't concentrate solely on telecom, making the kind of oversight the FCC provides unlikely. More critically, the FTC has no rulemaking power like the FCC, so its enforcement in the internet space reaches only the voluntary public pledges companies make.
"The Federal Trade Commission has had the authority for decades to examine both monopolistic conduct outright and unjust trade practices, and step in," he noted. If stronger FTC action is needed, he added, "I'm fully supportive."
CES 2018: CNET's full coverage of the year's largest tech gathering.
iHate: CNET examines how prejudice is spreading across the web.
