GOP BIG TECH CRITICS ACCUSED OF ‘HYPOCRISY’ A number of Republican Senate candidates running on anti-Big Tech platforms have stock holdings in the same companies they are vowing to hold accountable if elected to Congress. That’s drawn accusations, from Democrats and some fellow Republicans, of hypocrisy. Others say arguing that someone won’t hold Facebook or Google accountable because they have stock in the company is a weak attack and that the conflict-of-interest accusations don’t hold water. In Ohio, former state GOP Chairwoman Jane Timken has called Big Tech “an arm of the Democrat party” and said that “their immunity privileges must be stripped.” In May, after Facebook said it would keep former President Trump’s account suspended until at least 2023, she said the “censorship of conservatives must end.” Timken, who is running in a GOP primary to succeed retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), holds stock valued at between $800,000 and $1.6 million in Google, Facebook and Apple through herself and her family, according to her financial disclosure reports. A spokesperson for the Timken campaign did not respond to requests for comment. In Pennsylvania, Republicans running to fill retiring Sen. Pat Toomey’s (R) seat are also campaigning on anti-Big Tech platforms. Businessman Jeff Bartos has tweeted about the need to “fight back against Big Tech’s aggressive silencing of conservatives” and that “Big Tech must be reined in.” His financial disclosure report shows that Bartos, through his spouse, holds stock valued at between $200,000 and $500,000 in Google. He holds stock in Apple valued between $300,000 and $600,000 through a spouse and in a joint account. Read more here. | 
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