SAN FRANCISCO — A decade ago, when the greed and carelessness of the financial industry came close to destroying the American economy, the overwhelming response by politicians and the public was: Meh. Almost instantly, all was forgiven and forgotten.

Now the tech industry — which, among other impressive innovations, provides the world’s knowledge on demand, lets people freely broadcast their diverse opinions and has made shopping as easy as pushing a button — has made some mistakes of its own. It has abused privacy, squeezed the competition and casually spread hate. And that’s just the beginning of the list.

Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple might not get away as cleanly as Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts senator who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, released proposals this month that would force tech breakups and impose severe restrictions on what remained. Another Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, covered more briefly some of the same ground, saying, “We have a major monopoly problem.”

At a moment when nearly everything in America seems wildly contentious, antitrust action against tech is getting a sober look. Antitrust is the nuclear bomb of regulatory policy, but the reaction to Ms. Warren’s and Ms. Klobuchar’s ideas was surprisingly receptive.