TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Tim Wu (吳修銘), a Taiwanese-American law professor at Columbia University, has been appointed by U.S. President Joe Biden to join his economic staff.

Known as a harsh critic of big tech companies, Wu was recruited Friday (March 5) to serve as a special assistant to the president for technology and competition policy at the National Economic Council. He has been an outspoken advocate for antitrust regulation against U.S. technology giants like Google and Facebook, arguing that these companies have become too dominant.

Wu is a strong believer in a free and open internet. He coined the term "net neutrality," the principle that the internet should be free of control from the government or companies that provide it and that all internet communications should be treated equally and not be biased against the user, content, or platform.

Born to a Taiwanese father and a British-Canadian mother, Wu is a graduate of McGill University and Harvard Law School. His father Wu Ming-ta (吳明達), a Tainan native, was a pioneer who took part in the Taiwan independence movement to oust the country's former autocratic leader Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and his government.

After becoming a full professor at Columbia University in 2006, Tim Wu also worked as a senior advisor to the Federal Trade Commission from 2011 to 2012 and a senior enforcement counsel at the New York Office of the Attorney General from 2015 to 2016.

During a press conference on Friday, White House Spokesperson Jen Psaki pointed out that Wu will help the president address "economic and social challenges posed by the growing power of tech platforms" and monopoly issues. She said the Biden administration is committed to standing up to the abuse of power from big tech companies and their executives.

(Columbia University website screenshot)