A 2019 inductee into the Internet Hall of Fame fully expects web giants to be part of the campaign trail in the next election cycle. 

Larry Irving was Assistant Secretary of Commerce during President Clinton’s administration and is one of the architects of the United States’ early domestic and foreign Internet policies. He is also the author of the first empirical study that proved the existence of the digital divide.              

In a recent interview on the Fox Business Channel, Irving pointed out how the Internet’s rapid growth has led to the massive expansion of web-based companies like Amazon and Facebook that have a presence across multiple platforms. That wide reach has drawn lawmakers’ attention and as he noted, will be a campaign trail topic in 2020.  

“This is not going to go away, no matter who is president and no matter what congress looks like,” Irving said. “On both sides of the aisle, both sides of the Hill, folks are looking at doing something about big tech.”