U.S. House committee approves blueprint for Big Tech crackdown
Reuters
Published Apr 15, 2021 10:17AM ET
Updated Apr 15, 2021 02:41PM ET
By Diane Bartz
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee formally approved a report accusing Big Tech companies of buying or crushing smaller firms, Representative David Cicilline's office said in a statement on Thursday.
With the approval during a marathon, partisan hearing, the more than 400-page staff report will become an official committee report, and the blueprint for legislation to rein in the market power of the likes of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Inc's Google, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB).
The report was approved by a 24-17 vote that split along party lines. The companies have denied any wrongdoing.
The report first released in October - the first such congressional review of the tech industry - suggested extensive changes to antitrust law and described dozens of instances where it said the companies had misused their power.
"Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook each hold monopoly power over significant sectors of our economy. This monopoly moment must end," Cicilline said in a statement. "I look forward to crafting legislation that addresses the significant concerns we have raised."
The first bill has already been introduced. A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers led by Cicilline and Senator Amy Klobuchar introduced legislation in March aimed at making it easier for news organizations to negotiate collectively with platforms like Google and Facebook.
Also in the Senate, Klobuchar introduced a broader bill in February to strengthen antitrust enforcers' ability to stop mergers by lowering the bar for stopping deals and giving them more money for legal fights.
The Cicilline report, whose origins were bipartisan, contained a menu of potential changes in antitrust law.
Republicans have criticized Big Tech companies for allegedly censoring conservative speech, pointing to Facebook's and Twitter's freezing or banning former President Donald Trump's access to the platforms.
Despite their ire, most Republicans have not backed the report's proposed changes in antitrust law but instead discussed stripping social media companies of legal protections they are accorded under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The law gives companies immunity over content posted on their sites by users.
Get The News You Want
Suggested legislation in the report ranged from the aggressive, such as potentially barring companies like Amazon.com from operating the markets in which they also compete, to the less controversial, like increasing the budgets of the agencies that enforce antitrust law - the Justice Department's Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission.
The report also urged Congress to allow antitrust enforcers more leeway in stopping companies from purchasing potential rivals, something that is now difficult.
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.