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US lawmakers unveiled a wide-ranging antitrust agenda on Friday, aiming to curb the competitive power of giants like Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google with five bipartisan bills that would represent the most significant overhaul of antitrust laws in recent years. decades. The bills, which are the culmination of a more than a year-long investigation into digital competition, target what lawmakers call the “unregulated power wielded” by Big Tech.
The bills are aimed at the four titans of technology, who collectively affect almost every aspect of online life, as well as the industry at large. If they eventually became law, the bills would make it easier for the government to dismantle parts of dominant companies, prevent them from eliminating competition through pre-emptive takeovers, and limit their participation in various activities with conflicts of interest.
Representative David N. Cicilline, a Rhode Island Democrat and chair of the House Antitrust Subcommittee, said the list of bills will “level the playing field” and ensure that tech companies are held to the same rules.
“Right now, unregulated tech monopolies have too much power over our economy,” Cicilline said in a press release. “I’m in a unique position to pick winners and losers, destroy small businesses, raise consumer prices and put people out of work.”
Facebook and Google declined to comment. Apple and Amazon did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Great technology, great power
The immense market power of these companies, which together account for more than $ 6 trillion in market value, has confused the basic principles that have guided antitrust legislation in the United States for generations. Lawmakers became increasingly concerned about the industry’s behavior and threatened to address it. In July, the CEOs of the four companies were hauled before Cicilline’s committee for a grueling six-hour hearing, an unprecedented public interrogation of Big Tech’s top leaders.
Supporters of Silicon Valley argue that the scale of Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google has provided consumers with unprecedented innovation and broad technological advantages, often at lower costs. Big Tech critics argue that the industry’s extraordinary market power hurts workers, suppresses smaller rivals, and costs consumers in ways other than money.
The bills on Friday’s legislative agenda, according to lawmakers, would be:
Prohibit the discrimination of rivals by dominant platforms, such as the Apple App Store, the Google Play Store or the entire Amazon marketplace, to prevent giants from giving preference to their products or services or from “choosing winners and losers online “. stifle threats from competitors or those that expand or consolidate the market power of online platforms Prevent dominant platforms from exerting their control over multiple types of businesses to give themselves an unfair advantage and disadvantage competitors Promote greater online competition by lowering their barriers to entry and reducing costs for businesses and consumers when they want to switch to a new supplier. Update merger filing fees, the first increase in two decades, providing funds to both the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to pursue necessary antitrust action.
The United States isn’t alone in holding back the powers of tech companies. Three years ago, the EU enacted comprehensive laws called the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, which are widely seen as a global gold standard for privacy. Australia requires tech companies to pay for linked news content on their sites. China and India also chased tech companies.
The new bills intensify a struggle that has been going on for years between Silicon Valley and Washington.
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All four tech giants face major antitrust battles. Google is the target of three major antitrust lawsuits, including a landmark case filed by the US Department of Justice and another complaint from a coalition of bipartisan states. Facebook faces lawsuits from the Federal Trade Commission and a group of state attorneys general. Amazon was sued by attorney in Washington, DC, for pricing. Apple and Google have been sued by the maker of the popular game Fortnite for their app store policies.
Cicillina led the charge in the Chamber. The July hearing was the culmination of a more than a year long investigation by its subcommittee on market domination of the tech giants. During that time, the subcommittee collected over 1.3 million documents from technology companies, their competitors, and competitive law enforcement agencies. Following the hearing, the subcommittee published a 449-page report accusing the four companies of “abuses of monopoly power”.
The size of the companies is staggering.
Facebook is the largest social network in the world, with a user base roughly equal to the two most populous countries in the world, China and India, combined. Amazon controls 38% of online sales in the United States, while Walmart, its closest competitor, has just 6%. (Amazon also collects data on other retailers using its giant platform.) Apple’s App Store is a powerful gateway for software developers to find an audience with the company’s huge iPhone and iPad customer base. Google processes approximately 90% of all web searches globally.
“Finally the party is over”
The legislative package is a “huge step” toward accountability of dominant tech companies for abuses of their unchecked power, said Robert Weissman, president of consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. “Big Tech should see this for what it is: Congress sends a clear message that the party is finally over for them,” he said in a statement.
Smaller competitors praised the move.
Roku, which is currently in a standoff with Google over a deal to continue hosting the YouTube TV app on its streaming devices, has called the bills a crucial step in curbing predatory behavior. “Roku has first-hand experience competing and interacting with these monopolists,” the company said in a statement. “We have seen how they blatantly ignore antitrust laws and harm consumers by exploiting their dominance in one line of business to stifle competition in another.”
Spotify, which has been a vocal critic of Apple’s actions in its App Store, called the proposals a “clear sign that momentum has changed” after “anti-competitive practices have gone unchecked for too long, stifling competition and threatening the public. ‘innovation”.
Advocates and tech industry representatives, however, have warned that utility bills could harm U.S. economic leadership in the world and hinder consumer access to free digital services.
“House bills would put the government in charge of industrial organization,” Matthew Schruers, president of the Computer & Communications Industry Association technology business group, said in a statement. “They ignore the principles that have governed the US market economy and would prevent successful technology companies from providing consumers with life-enhancing products and services.”
A statement earlier in the day by Rep Ken Buck, a Colorado Republican who is the committee’s rank member, suggested that the industry’s stance would find little sympathy in Washington.
“Big Tech has abused its market dominance to crush competitors, censor speech and control how we see and understand the world,” Buck said. “Doing nothing is not an option, we have to act now.”
Richard Nieva of CNET contributed to this article.
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