Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

Could Breaking Up Meta Make Things Worse?


Listen Later

Facebook, Meta — whatever you want to call it, the tech titan has drawn a lot of ire, and not just from privacy advocates and people fighting misinformation. Antitrust regulators are sharpening their knives, too.
Forty-eight attorneys general want to slice the Big Tech giant into less-powerful pieces. They’ve joined a parallel lawsuit with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to challenge what the agency alleges to be a monopoly engaging in illegal acquisitions. And overseas, Britain’s competition regulator has already directed Meta to sell one of its companies, the gif-sharing platform Giphy.
Meta reaches 3.6 billion monthly active users across platforms, including Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook itself. Amid a growing techlash, how to fix Meta is a big question.
In today’s episode, Jane Coaston explores two opposing views on whether breaking up the company might help. Sarah Miller, the director of the American Economic Liberties Project, argues Meta engaged in anticompetitive practices by buying its rivals. And Tyler Cowen, an economist at George Mason University, is a champion of big business who lauds Meta as an “antimonopoly” engine.
(A full transcript of the episode will be available midday on the Times website.)
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Interesting Times with Ross DouthatBy New York Times Opinion

  • 4
  • 4
  • 4
  • 4
  • 4

4

6,733 ratings


More shows like Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

View all
Modern Love by The New York Times

Modern Love

8,851 Listeners

Fresh Air by NPR

Fresh Air

38,492 Listeners

The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker Radio Hour

6,758 Listeners

The Book Review by The New York Times

The Book Review

3,874 Listeners

The Political Scene | The New Yorker by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

3,992 Listeners

The Gray Area with Sean Illing by Vox

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

10,741 Listeners

Popcast by The New York Times

Popcast

1,502 Listeners

Pivot by New York Magazine

Pivot

9,502 Listeners

The Run-Up by The New York Times

The Run-Up

2,069 Listeners

Inside The Times by The New York Times

Inside The Times

142 Listeners

Pod Save America by Crooked Media

Pod Save America

87,217 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

112,427 Listeners

Radio Atlantic by The Atlantic

Radio Atlantic

2,308 Listeners

The Atlantic Interview by The Atlantic

The Atlantic Interview

2,127 Listeners

Change Agent by The New York Times

Change Agent

1,513 Listeners

Caliphate by The New York Times

Caliphate

12,629 Listeners

Charm City by The New York Times

Charm City

307 Listeners

The Latest by The New York Times

The Latest

468 Listeners

The Candidates by The New York Times

The Candidates

51 Listeners

Jungle Prince by The New York Times

Jungle Prince

2,319 Listeners

The Choice by New York Times Opinion

The Choice

380 Listeners

Rabbit Hole by The New York Times

Rabbit Hole

6,686 Listeners

Hard Fork by The New York Times

Hard Fork

5,470 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

16,026 Listeners

Day X by The New York Times

Day X

1,500 Listeners

The Interview by The New York Times

The Interview

1,555 Listeners

On with Kara Swisher by Vox Media

On with Kara Swisher

3,431 Listeners

The Run-Up (2016) by The New York Times

The Run-Up (2016)

11 Listeners

The Opinions by The New York Times Opinion

The Opinions

535 Listeners

The Argument by New York Times Opinion

The Argument

23 Listeners

The New York Times Narrated by The New York Times

The New York Times Narrated

57 Listeners

The Run-Up Guide to 2024 by The New York Times

The Run-Up Guide to 2024

0 Listeners