Today, American Principles Project (APP) launched BigTechFunding.org, a new website aimed at providing more transparency around the influence of Big Tech companies in public policy.
The website includes a comprehensive database of think tanks, academic centers and advocacy groups funded by Big Tech. It also offers, free to download, a Chrome browser extension which adds disclosure alerts to accounts on Twitter that are affiliated with organizations that receive financial backing from Big Tech.
APP’s Director of Policy and Government Affairs Jon Schweppe released the following statement explaining the urgent need for the project:
“Last fall, powerful Big Tech companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Google waged an all-out attack on our democracy by suppressing news stories, banning users, blocking advertisements, and manipulating algorithms to promote one political party over another. This cannot be allowed to happen again. America won’t survive long if large swaths of our population are cheated out of participation in the public square.
“At this point, reining in Big Tech needs to be a litmus test in the Republican Party — if you’re not with us, you’re against us. And we’ve found that a great deal of conservative organizations seem to be against us, perhaps thanks in part to the lucrative incentives for doing so. We launched BigTechFunding.org to hold these groups that take Big Tech funding accountable. All Americans, from our lawmakers to the average voter, should know exactly where the battle lines are drawn.”
