South by Southwest is no longer the preferred launchpad for social apps, but it may be for others like Blue Duck, a San Antonio-based transportation company debuting its scooter service this weekend.
Context: Between Twitter's big breakout moment in 2007 and Meerkat's in 2015, SXSW has served as a great marketing opportunity for social apps. But that's ended as consumer trends have shifted and Hollywood and other consumer companies have taken over the festival.
Speaking to Axios' Mike Allen at South by Southwest Saturday, Congresswoman Terri Sewell, a member of the House Intel committee, said social media platforms have been very cooperative with the committee in investigating the extent to which Russians used their platforms to meddle in the 2016 election.
"They’ve been very cooperative. All of the social platforms have been very cooperative. They've all turned over all the documents we’ve asked. They’ve been very helpful."
The backlash against the power players of Silicon Valley is testing pro-business tendencies of Republicans, including the influential chairs of the commerce committees in the House and Senate, and giving conservative activists a new cause.
Why it matters: It's rare for powerful Republicans to pressure corporations that haven't run afoul of the law — but tech is proving an exception to that rule, highlighting the ways in which political attitudes toward the industry have changed in the last year.
