I usually just come up with a random idea and bounce ideas off of friends to get their reactions. How do you prepare for these actions and what makes them so successful? You have done a number of creative stunts during Congressional hearings, from playing the audio of children crying in detention centers to dressing up as a Russian troll. We need comprehensive legislation and agency oversight that we have in many areas of business outside of tech. All of these various controversies show that Google and other tech giants cannot be allowed to self-regulate. I’m also hoping to call attention to the controversy raging over Google’s development of Project Dragonfly, a censored search engine that would endanger dissidents and human rights defenders in China, as well as internal battles over sexual harassment, racial discrimination and pay inequity. My appearance as Monopoly Man aims to highlight the need for regulation and antitrust action to rein in Google’s monopoly in many areas of tech. Why was the hearing with Google’s CEO an important place for Monopoly Man to make an appearance?
With a background in music and improv - plus a law degree from UCLA - Madrigal’s Monopoly Man has inspired activists around the country, as well as people on both sides of the aisle.
Their creative stunts - which have taken on powerful figures from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen - are effective, in part, because they understand how to strategically draw the worlds of politics, art and activism together. Ian Madrigal, who uses they/them pronouns, gained internet fame when they first dressed up as Monopoly Man during an October 2017 Senate Banking Committee hearing with the CEO of credit reporting agency Equifax, following its massive data breach. But behind the fake mustache and provocative message about capitalist greed is a dedicated activist for economic justice. To most people, this person - also wearing a monocle and toting a bag of cash - is none other than the famous board game character most commonly known as Monopoly Man. On Tuesday morning, when Google CEO Sundar Pichai testified before the House Judiciary Committee about his company’s data collection practices, there was a familiar mustachioed face in the crowd. Monopoly Man lurking just above the shoulder of Google CEO Sundar Pichai at Tuesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing.