The Washington Posts’ January 10 article “Meet the tech trade group outspending Trump on Facebook ads” featured AAI President Diana Moss’ take on the market power of major technology companies.
From the article:
The advertising comes as Congress faces a tight window to pass the bills ahead of this year’s midterm elections, which could upend prospects to pass the proposals in the near future. Lawmakers designed the bills to:
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- Beef up the power of regulators
- Put the burden on tech giants to prove their mergers aren’t anticompetitive
- Bar tech giants from having a line of business that creates a conflict of interest with its operation of a platform
- Block tech giants from prioritizing their products over those of their rivals
Groups aligned with Big Tech say the bills would also make it more difficult for consumers to use digital services. Some have also argued that they would bolster China by adding barriers for U.S. companies.
Supporters of the bills don’t agree. Arguments that antitrust enforcement would hamper innovation “really don’t hold much water,” said Diana Moss, the president of the liberal American Antitrust Institute, arguing that major U.S. technology companies are global in scope and dominant.
Jane Meyer, a spokesperson for Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who leads the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel and has been behind some of the legislation, slammed the effort.
“How can you trust the Big Tech companies to take care of misinformation when they are spreading it themselves? These companies are hiding behind their hundreds of lobbyists and resorting to lies in an attempt to prevent the implementation of common sense digital rules of the road,” Meyer said. “They are desperately trying to muddy the waters because they know the public is on our side.”
