Former US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler joins Catalysts to discuss Big Tech's political future in the US and how lawmakers should approach regulation.

Wheeler explains that President Biden has a stronger record on tech regulation than former President Trump: "Joe Biden has a thoughtful set of policies whereas when we watched the Trump administration for four years, they were bouncing from this policy to that policy, depending upon apparently what the president was feeling that day."

When it comes to regulating Big Tech, Wheeler explains that the US needs "a countervailing force" that will prioritize privacy and counterbalance expectations "that set the behavioral standards for these incredibly important companies." He adds, "We need to take an entirely new look at how we structure our oversight, that we have to have oversight of this incredibly powerful, important, and contributory new set of technologies... We must become equally innovative in how we create guardrails to protect consumers, to protect competition."

He believes participation is key to securing these protections, especially when "the first rule in Washington is it's always easier to kill something than to pass something." Wheeler hopes to see tech leadership work with policymakers to draft new legislation that works for all.

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This post was written by Melanie Riehl