Tech executives are among those who have gotten significantly richer during the pandemic — not because of some new inventions but because their services filled voids created by the dire circumstances.

Putting Saudi Aramco aside, the top five most valuable companies in the world right now are tech giants: Apple, $2.41 trillion; Microsoft, $1.76 trillion; Amazon, $1.67 trillion; Alphabet/Google, $1.3 trillion; and Facebook, $803.4 billion.

Having profited so much for the pandemic, it stands to reason that some of these firms should help America get back on its feet. One idea floated by Yale professor Daniel Markovits suggests a five percent tax on the richest five percent of households which he calculates could raise up to $2 trillion.

Another idea from Silicon Valley insiders is to tax social media. The idea is to make firms such as Twitter and Facebook pay for the repercussions of the toxic waste that flows over their platforms.

Society is happy to tax addictive and harmful products such as sugary drinks and cigarettes, the argument goes, so why not tax social media, which also makes society sick by pumping out the poison.

Social media platforms clearly cannot self-regulate and getting the right laws in place will take forever the US government should tax them without delay.

Rage fostered online has a societal cost, and those responsible should pay for it.

Posted in: Infographic of the day