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00:00THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US. I HAVE TO START OFF WITH -- ARE YOU IN TEXAS PART OF THIS GROUP OF ATTORNEYS GENERAL THAT IS LOOKING INTO WHETHER GOOGLE PRESENTS AN ANTITRUST CASE? MR. PAXTON: WE ABSOLUTELY ARE. WE HAVE SERIOUS CONCERNS ABOUT THOSE ISSUES. ANTITRUST, THE POWER AND WEALTH OF THESE COMPANIES. WE HAVE A HISTORY IN THIS COUNTRY AT LOOKING AT THESE ISSUES. WE ALSO HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT PRIVACY. THE LACK OF TRANSPARENCY AND HOW THEY COLLECT THIS INFORMATION, THE LACK OF TRANSPARENCY ON EITHER USE THE INFORMATION.CONSUMERS ARE BEING NOT BEING PAID AND THERE ARE CHILDREN GETTING THEIR DATA GATHERED AND WE HAVE NO PROTECTION FOR THEM. EMILY: GOOGLE DID NOT HAVE A RESPONSE TO THIS PROBE, IF YOU WILL, OR EARLY STAGES OF A PROBE SAYING THEY WILL CONTINUE TO ENGAGE CONSTRUCTIVELY WITH STATES ATTORNEYS GENERAL ON POLICY ISSUES. WHAT KIND OF ACTION DO YOU THINK NEEDS TO BE TAKEN AGAINST GOOGLE? MR. PAXTON: WE NEED TO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM THEM. A LOT OF THE QUESTIONS ANSWERED WERE VERY GENERAL ANSWERS ABOUT ANALYTICS. THERE WAS A NOT A LOT OF CLARITY FOR STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE DEALING WITH. I'VE HEARD GOOGLE HAS LITERALLY THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF DATA POINTS ON EVERY CONSUMER THAT USES THEM. AND KNOWS MORE ABOUT YOU THAN YOU DO. IT IS A LITTLE CONCERNING THAT MOST CONSUMERS ARE NOT AWARE OF THE MASSIVE DATA THAT THESE COMPANIES HAVE. THEN, HOW THEY ARE USING IT AND SELLING IT. THE CONSUMER IS NOT GETTING ANY OF THAT MONEY. EMILY: I AM SURE YOU ARE AWARE OF SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN'S PROPOSAL TO BREAK UP BIG TECH AT THIS POINT. THIS IS WHAT SHE HAD TO SAY AT SXSW A WEEK AND A HALF AGO WITHOUT HER PROPOSAL. SEN. WARREN: THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO WHAT YOU DO BEST, TO COME UP WITH A GREAT IDEA, TO WORK YOUR HEART OUT TO MAKE IT HAPPEN. TO BE ABLE TO COMPETE ON A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD IS TAKEN AWAY BY THESE PLATFORM GIANTS. MY VIEW IS BREAK THOSE THINGS APART AND WE WILL HAVE A MUCH MORE COMPETITIVE, ROBUST MARKET IN AMERICA. EMILY: YOU'VE GOT REPUBLICANS ON YOUR SIDE OF THE AISLE LIKE TED CRUZ AGREEING WITH HER, AT LEAST IN PRINCIPLE. DO YOU THINK BIG TECH NEEDS TO BE BROKEN UP? MR. PAXTON: I AM NOT SURE YET, BUT I HAVE CONCERNS. I HAVE TALKED TO A LOT OF THEIR COMPETITORS THAT ARE BEING PUSHED OUT OF THE MARKETPLACE AND THEY HAVE NO CHOICE IN HOW THEY RESPOND BECAUSE THERE IS SUCH CONTROLLED BY A COMPANY LIKE GOOGLE THAT CONTROLS ABOUT 89% OF THE SEARCHES. IT DOES PUT THESE SMALLER COMPANIES -- THE EITHER GET PURCHASED OR PUSHED OUT OF THE MARKETPLACE. THERE ARE CONCERNS ABOUT COMPETITIVENESS AND COMPANIES BEING ABLE TO START UP AND COMPETE. EMILY: REPUBLICANS GENERALLY RESIST THE GOVERNMENT GETTING INVOLVED. WHAT MAKES THIS SITUATION DIFFERENT? MR. PAXTON: WE DEFINITELY TEND TO BE FREE MARKET. COMPETITION IS THE KEYWORD. WHEN YOU HAVE COMPANIES DOMINATE THE MARKETPLACE, THEN COMPETITION GOES AWAY AND YOU HAVE THIS ARGUMENT THAT CONSUMERS MAY BE HARD. MED. THE EUROPEAN UNION HAS ALREADY FINED BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN DIFFERENT CASES. THERE ARE CONCERNS ABOUT THE COMPETITIVENESS AND OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE PRODUCTS THAT GOOGLE DOES NOT PUT OUT. EMILY: HOW DO YOU FEEL GIVEN YOUR CONCERNS ABOUT DATA? HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT FACEBOOK SPECIFICALLY AND WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN TAKING ON A SIMILAR EXPLORATION ON WHETHER FACEBOOK DESERVES SCRUTINY AS WELL? MR. PAXTON: WE ARE LOOKING AT COMPANIES LIKE FACEBOOK AND GOOGLE. IT IS NOT JUST LIMITED TO THOSE COMPANIES. IT IS ANY OF THESE GIANT COMPANIES THAT ARE DOMINATING THE MARKETPLACE AND POTENTIALLY HARMING CONSUMERS AND CAUSING CONSUMERS TO BE IN A POSITION WHERE ALL OF THIS DATA IS CONTROLLED BY ONE COMPANY, TWO COMPANIES OR THREE COMPANIES AND THE CONSUMER DOES NOT HAVE ACCESS TO IT, THEY DON'T GET PAID FOR IT AND DON'T KNOW HOW IT IS BEING USED. EMILY: DO YOU THINK CONSUMERS SHOULD GET PAID FOR THEIR DATA? MR. PAXTON: I THINK THAT SHOULD BE LOOKED AT. THIS IS INCREDIBLY VALUABLE INFORMATION WHEN YOU KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT EVERY CONSUMER AND YOU ARE SELLING THAT DATA AND THE CONSUMER DOES NOT EVEN KNOW. THERE OUGHT TO BE AT LEAST SOME GREATER TRANSPARENCY INVOLVED. THE CONSUMER REALIZES WHAT THEY ARE TURNING OVER TO THESE COMPANIES. EMILY: IF YOU ARE LOOKING AT GOOGLE AND FACEBOOK AND OTHER BIG TECH COMPANIES, IS IT FAIR TO SAY YOU ARE LOOKING AT AMAZON AND APPLE AND MICROSOFT? MR. PAXTON: WE ARE JUST BEGINNING. WE DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE SPECIFIC COMPANIES WE HAVE TARGETED, BUT WE'RE LOOKING AT A BROAD RANGE OF COMPANIES THAT CONTROL A LOT OF THE MARKETPLACE. TRYING TO DETERMINE ARE THEY INVOLVED IN VIEWPOINT DISCRIMINATION? ARE THEY PROTECTING CONSUMER DATA? HOW DO WE GET MORE TRANSPARENCY IN THE PROCESS SO CONSUMERS ARE TREATED FAIRLY AND THEIR INFORMATION IS PROTECTED? WE DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH THESE COMPANIES ARE PROTECTING THE CONSUMER DATA. EMILY: LAST YEAR, WE REPORTED THIS EXPLORATION OF GOOGLE CAME OUT OF THIS MEETING WITH THEN ATTORNEY GENERAL JEFF SESSIONS OUT OF CONCERN THESE TECH COMPANIES WERE SUPPRESSING CONSERVATIVE VIEWS. WERE YOU AT THAT MEETING WITH THEN ATTORNEY GENERAL SESSIONS? MR. PAXTON: I COULD NOT ATTEND. WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THIS. THIS HAPPENED THIS WEEK IN THE TEXAS SENATE. THE TEXAS SENATE CAUCUS PUT UP A FACEBOOK POST ABOUT A BORN ALIVE BILL TO PROTECT CHILDREN THAT ARE BEING ABORTED AFTER THEY ARE ALIVE. THAT CONTENT WAS TAKEN DOWN BY FACEBOOK. THEY WERE ARGUING THAT WAS ENGAGEMENT. THEY ALSO TOOK DONE ANOTHER FACEBOOK POST BY AN INDIVIDUAL SENATOR THAT TALKED ABOUT THAT ISSUE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT ENGAGEMENT IS. I THOUGHT FREE SPEECH IS WHAT THEY WANTED, BUT THAT IS CERTAINLY IN ISSUE THAT IS COMING UP MORE AND MORE OFTEN. EMILY: DO YOU BELIEVE THIS IS DELIBERATE OR INADVERTENT BY FACEBOOK? MR. PAXTON: IT IS HARD TO KNOW BECAUSE IT SEEMS RELATIVELY PLANNED. THEY DON'T SEEM HAVE TO HAVE GREAT ANSWERS WHY THIS POST VERSUS ANOTHER POST AND WHY THAT IS ENGAGEMENT BAIT. HUNDREDS LIKE IT ARE NOT ENGAGEMENT BAIT. THEY ALWAYS CLAIM THEY HAVE SOME ANALYTICS OR ALGORITHM, BUT WE CAN NEVER GET SEEM TO GET WHAT THAT ALGORITHM IS DOING. EMILY: THERE IS CONCERNED ABOUT THE VIDEO OF THE MASS SHOOTING THAT WAS UPLOADED ONTO FACEBOOK AND SHARED ON FACEBOOK HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF TIMES. FACEBOOK WAS UNABLE TO STOP IT 300,000 TIMES FROM BEING POSTED. WHAT ROLE DO YOU THINK THE STATE SHOULD HAVE IN THESE ISSUES? MR. PAXTON: WE ARE TALKING FIRST AMENDMENT. FREE SPEECH IS DANGEROUS. IT ALLOWS PEOPLE TO TALK ABOUT ALL KINDS OF THINGS WE MIGHT NOT LIKE PERSONALLY, BUT I THINK FREE SPEECH OUGHT TO BE VERY BROAD AND VERY PROTECTED. IT IS SOMETHING THE FOUNDERS LISTED FIRST. RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION BEING SOMETHING ELSE THAT WAS PROTECTED. I THINK WE HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL AT OBVIOUSLY GOVERNMENT LIMITING SPEECH, BUT IF BUSINESSES ARE GOING TO LIMIT SPEECH, THEY HAVE TO BE TRANSPARENT ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE DOING. THEY NEED NOT TO FALSELY

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Texas AG Paxton Says He's Looking Into 'Broad Range of Companies' That Control Tech (Video)

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