Daily US Tims: US legislators have introduced five bills aimed at liming the power held by Big Tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook.
The bills were drafted after a 16-month investigation into the powers of the US big tech companies.
They address topics including the competitive behaviour of these companies, data processing and mergers – which could ultimately lead to them being forced to sell some assets.
But there is not unanimous support for the bills targeting big tech companies.
Neil Bradley from the US Chamber of Commerce said in a statement: “Bills that target specific companies, instead of focusing on business practices, are simply bad policy… and could be ruled unconstitutional.”
The bills will be referred to the House Judiciary Committee before sending to the House floor.
To become law, the bills must pass through the House of Representatives, the Senate and, finally, be signed by President Biden.
David Cicilline, Democratic chair of the Antitrust panel and the co-sponsor of the bills, tweeted a breakdown of the bills which, he says, will, “strengthen our laws to hold tech monopolies accountable, and build #AStrongerOnlineEconomy”.
Robert Weisman, president of the advocacy group Public Citizen, said: “Big Tech’s unchecked growth and dominance have led to incredible abuses of power that have hurt consumers, workers, small businesses and innovation.”
Some of the companies have also been hit with various lawsuits allege anti-competitive behaviour and claiming they have violated competition law.
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