Why a Trump and Vance ticket could spell trouble for Big Tech

Donald Trump has picked his running mate for the Presidential election in the US, and Big Tech is happy — well, Elon Musk is at least, as he’s pledging $45 million monthly to a Trump-backing campaign group.

The choice of JD Vance will have some in Silicon Valley smiling, while others will be concerned. A former venture capitalist with ties to PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Vance has praised regulators and called for the breakup of big tech companies.

Now, I admit there are bigger repercussions to the Trump/Vance ticket winning in November than the implications for the technology industry. Between them, they’ve shared troubling comments about Russia and Ukraine, women’s reproductive systems and what it means for democracy in America.

But it’s also worth noting how Silicon Valley is already reacting to Trump and what Vance as a VP selection could mean for the wider industry.

Beyond Musk, the campaign group backing Trump has also won funds from Jo Lonsdale, a Palantic co-founder alongside Thiel, and the Winklevoss twins, according to reports.

Related: AI regulation will hurt financial firms, says Ted Cruz

Vance and tech regulators

What can we expect from Vance as a would-be vice president? With this pair, it’s difficult to predict future behaviour: after all, Vance once said Trump could become “America’s Hitler” and described himself as a “never Trump guy”, yet here he is running alongside him. (Opinions can, of course, change.) 

According to Fortune, Vance worked at Mithril Capital, a firm founded by controversial Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel, before working at VC fund Revolution and leading its Rise of the Rest fund. This sought to invest in startups outside the usual places, like Silicon Valley.

Vance later co-founded Narya Ventures, which won investment from ex Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Marc Andreessen. But, as critics have noted, he only stayed at each company for two years apiece, making it difficult to read much into his efforts or assess their success.

Though his companies have been part funded by Big Tech, including Google’s own ex CEO, Vance has learned the value of criticising the industry, saying on X.com that Big Tech exerts influence on older Republicans.

Vance has gone further and called for Google and Meta to be broken up, criticising their influence on democracy — or as he put it on Fox News: “[Google] is one of the most dangerous companies in the world. It actively solicits and forces left-wing bias down the throats of the American nation.”

Vance has also vocally supported FTC chair Lina Khan, saying the regulator is “one of the few people in the Biden administration who I think is doing a pretty good job.”

Perhaps taking on Big Tech is a policy that’s popular across parties, suggesting Silicon Valley is in for a tougher ride in the coming years regardless of who becomes president.

Trump and social media

Trump has an equally mixed record when it comes to Big Tech, in particular social media, with leading sites banning him after the Capitol riots of 6 January 2021.

YouTube banned Trump from posting videos, but limited the ban to two years. Meta also decided to ban Trump from Facebook and Instagram in 2021, but reinstated his accounts with “guardrails” in 2023. Those have now been dropped entirely.

Twitter removed the once-president three days after the US Capitol was stormed, sparking a short-lived rush to Parler. Trump several months later founded Truth Social, his very own social network. But he’s since been welcomed back to X.com, the site once known as Twitter, after it was bought by Musk. However, Trump prefers to use his own site, posting just once since 2021. (His team shared a picture of his mugshot from last August.)

None of this has stopped supporters from sharing his messages across social sites, of course, showing Trump doesn’t need to have direct access, though the bans have since been rescinded. It will be intriguing to watch how social sites walk the balance between reigning in the worst online activity of Trump and his followers while also allowing a potential president the right to speak to his would-be electorate — all while trying not to anger the next leader of the US, whichever candidate that may be.

Trump and Vance versus Big Tech?

What does all this mean for technology, Big Tech, Silicon Valley and the rest?

When it comes to Trump, it’s hard to know whether he’ll seek revenge for the bans, regulate away rules around dangerous speech online, seek to break up Big Tech, or simply focus on other issues. Choosing Vance suggests tech could be in for a bumpy ride, so it’s no wonder some in the industry are leaping up to offer support early.

But, of course, we’ll have to see what happens in November to see if such gambles are worth the monthly $45 million payments.