Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Report: 1 in 3 Big Tech Enforcement Cases Dropped by Trump Administration
I have documented how President Trump has been Big Tech’s greatest supporter abroad, shaking down other countries to remove taxes and regulations on U.S. technology firms. He has also delivered for the industry at home.
A new report from Public Citizen looks at 142 federal investigations against tech corporations that were handed over to Trump from the Biden administration, for a host of securities, labor, consumer protection, anti-discrimination, and other violations. According to the analysis, 47 of the 142 investigations, nearly 1 in 3, have been either halted or withdrawn, including examinations of Activision, eBay, Hewlett Packard, Meta, Microsoft, PayPal, Rocket Mortgage, SpaceX, Telsa, and more.
While investigations do not connote definitive misconduct, the scale of the effort suggests alternative motivations, including the over $1 billion in political spending tech firms have made over the past two years.
Almost half of the 47 halted or withdrawn actions affect the crypto industry, where Trump has reversed his skepticism and turned to crypto as a moneymaker that now represents the majority of his personal wealth, according to Accountable.US. The Trump administration has formally pulled back on crypto enforcement, and several executives from companies previously in legal hot water joined Trump in his signing ceremony for stablecoin legislation known as the GENIUS Act.
Another 11 dropped cases involve fintech companies that merge technology and financial operations. The sector benefited from the dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at the direction of tech moguls like Elon Musk, whose ambition to turn social media site X into a payment network is well documented. Investigations into fintech consumer deception, improper and excessive fees, and even fraud have been dismissed.
A new report from Public Citizen looks at 142 federal investigations against tech corporations that were handed over to Trump from the Biden administration, for a host of securities, labor, consumer protection, anti-discrimination, and other violations. According to the analysis, 47 of the 142 investigations, nearly 1 in 3, have been either halted or withdrawn, including examinations of Activision, eBay, Hewlett Packard, Meta, Microsoft, PayPal, Rocket Mortgage, SpaceX, Telsa, and more.
While investigations do not connote definitive misconduct, the scale of the effort suggests alternative motivations, including the over $1 billion in political spending tech firms have made over the past two years.
Almost half of the 47 halted or withdrawn actions affect the crypto industry, where Trump has reversed his skepticism and turned to crypto as a moneymaker that now represents the majority of his personal wealth, according to Accountable.US. The Trump administration has formally pulled back on crypto enforcement, and several executives from companies previously in legal hot water joined Trump in his signing ceremony for stablecoin legislation known as the GENIUS Act.
Another 11 dropped cases involve fintech companies that merge technology and financial operations. The sector benefited from the dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at the direction of tech moguls like Elon Musk, whose ambition to turn social media site X into a payment network is well documented. Investigations into fintech consumer deception, improper and excessive fees, and even fraud have been dismissed.
https://prospect.org/power/2025-08-14-1-in-3-big-tech-enforcement-cases-dropped-by-trump-administration/]