Mark Zuckerberg seems worried about the prospect of an Elizabeth Warren presidency.
In newly leaked audio published by The Verge, the Facebook CEO expressed his concerns about Warren's plans to take on Silicon Valley titans if she is ultimately elected president. The audio was taken from two internal meetings with Facebook employees over the summer, about four months after Sen. Warren put forth her plans to break up big-tech companies—such as Facebook, Amazon, and Google—in an attempt to restore competition within the industry.
"You have someone like Elizabeth Warren who thinks that the right answer is to break up the companies ... if she gets elected president, then I would bet that we will have a legal challenge, and I would bet that we will win the legal challenge," Zuckerberg is heard saying during one of the July Q&A sessions. "And does that still suck for us? Yeah. I mean, I don’t want to have a major lawsuit against our own government. ... But look, at the end of the day, if someone’s going to try to threaten something that existential, you go to the mat and you fight."
He continued: "It's just that breaking up these companies, whether it's Facebook or Google or Amazon, is not actually going to solve the issues. And, you know, it doesn't make election interference less likely. It makes it more likely because now the companies can't coordinate and work together."
Zuckerberg has since confirmed that the leaked audio is authentic.
Warren responded to The Verge's report via Twitter, reiterating her criticism of the power tech giants have "over our economy, our society, and our democracy."
Warren, a top-tier Democratic candidate, has blasted big tech companies for hurting smaller businesses in the tech sector and essentially developing monopolies through major mergers. In her proposal, Warren points to Facebook's acquisition of "potential competitors Instagram and WhatsApp," as well as Google's purchase of Waze and DoubleClick.
"I want a government that makes sure everybody—even the biggest and most powerful companies in America—plays by the rules. And I want to make sure that the next generation of great American tech companies can flourish," she wrote. "... That’s why my administration will make big, structural changes to the tech sector to promote more competition—including breaking up Amazon, Facebook, and Google."
