A group composed of Google, Facebook and other large internet companies sent an open letter to President-elect Donald Trump this week that outlined its policy goals on topics ranging from digital encryption and immigration to surveillance reform and net neutrality.
The Internet Association, a trade group who also lists the likes of Amazon and Uber among its 40 members, offered the insight in a 12-page “roadmap of key policy areas” sent Monday to the Trump-Pence Transition Team as the president-elect and his running mate prepare to enter the White House in hardly two months’ time.
“We look forward to working closely with the Trump administration along with Republicans and Democrats in Congress to implement policies that promote innovation and cement the internet’s role as a driver of economic and social progress for future generations,” Internet Association President and CEO Michael Beckerman said in an accompanying statement. “Internet companies are a key component for freedom and economic growth at home and abroad. The story of this industry embodies the spirit of free enterprise.”
The letter goes on to list policy priorities on an array of tech-related topics, including at least a couple that contrast with pre-election statements made while the Republican nominee was still campaigning, particularly with regards to encryption and immigration.
“Strong encryption is critical to national and individual security. Encryption is key to national defense, and it also protects our nation’s financial system and critical infrastructure. It also protects users from repressive governments looking to stifle speech and democracy, and it shields users from nefarious actors seeking to steal their sensitive data. Laws that require companies to engineer vulnerabilities into products and services harm personal privacy and endanger national security.
“Support for strong encryption makes America more secure,” the Internet Associate said in its letter.
When a national debate erupted earlier this year over the FBI’s attempts to compel Apple into unlocking an encrypted iPhone owned by a slain terror suspect in San Bernardino, California, Mr. Trump took the side of investigators who condemned the company for refusing to compromise the security of its own product.
“Who do they think they are? They have to open it up,” Mr. Trump said in a February 2016 interview on Fox News.
“Boycott Apple until such time as they give that information,” he told an audience in South Carolina that month.
Devising a mechanism to unlock the password-protected iPhone at the center of the terror probe would be the “software equivalent of cancer,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said later on, the likes of which would potentially “make hundreds of millions of customers vulnerable around the world.”
On the topic of immigration, the trade group said Mr. Trump must support policies that will allow “more high-skilled graduates and workers to stay in the United States and contribute to our economy.
“To accomplish this, the U.S. must expand and improve the Green Card program, including the creation of a STEM Green Card system,” the group added, referring to a system where foreigners who earn advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering and math are eligible for permanent residency on account of their expertise.
The group’s position is likely to be opposed by Mr. Trump, who has previously proposed instituting a moratorium on issuing green cards to foreign workers, and promised repeatedly to tighten immigration policies if elected president.
Elsewhere, the letter urged the Trump administration to support net neutrality, rein in surveillance programs and uphold the internet’s ability to provide a platform for free speech, among other goals.
“The internet industry looks forward to engaging in an open and productive dialogue,” the group’s letter concluded.
Other members of the Internet Association include Amazon, eBay, LinkedIn, Lyft and dozen of the web’s biggest companies. Mr. Beckerman, its CEO, previously served as chief policy adviser to the chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
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