The US House of Representatives on Thursday approved antitrust legislation targeting the dominance of Big Tech companies by giving states greater power in competition cases and increasing money for federal regulators.
The bipartisan measure passed by a 242-184 vote. It was
separated from more ambitious provisions aimed at reining in Meta, Google,
Amazon and Apple and cleared by key House and Senate committees. Those
proposals have languished for months, giving the companies time for vigorous
lobbying campaigns against them.
The more limited bill would give states an upper hand over
companies in choosing the location of courts that decide federal antitrust
cases. Proponents say this change would avert the “home-court advantage” that
Big Tech companies enjoy in federal court in Northern California, where many of
the cases are tried and many of the companies are based.
Many state attorneys general have pursued antitrust cases
against the industry, and many states joined with the Justice Department and
the Federal Trade Commission in their landmark lawsuits against Google and Meta
(then called Facebook), respectively, in late 2020.
The bill also would increase filing fees paid by companies
to federal agencies for all proposed mergers worth $500 million or more, while
reducing the fees for small and medium-sized transactions. The aim is to
increase revenue for federal enforcement efforts.
Under the bill, companies seeking approval for mergers would
have to disclose subsidies they received from countries deemed to pose
strategic or economic risks to the United States — especially China.
“We find ourselves in a monopoly moment as a country,” Rep.
Lori Trahan, D-Mass., said before the vote. “Multibillion-dollar corporations
have grown into behemoths, eliminating any real competition in their industries
and using their dominance to hurt small businesses and consumers. Meta’s
monopoly power has enabled it to harm women, children and people of all ages
without recourse. Amazon has used its dominance to copy competitors’ products
and run small businesses into the ground.”
The Biden administration, which has pushed for antitrust
legislation targeting Big Tech, endorsed the bill this week.
The legislation drew fierce opposition from conservative
Republicans who split from their GOP colleagues supporting the bill. The
conservatives objected to the proposed revenue increase for the antitrust
regulators, arguing there has been brazen overreach by the FTC under President
Joe Biden.
Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., described the FTC's leader,
Lina Khan, as a “a radical leftist seeking to replace consumers' decisions with
her own.”
Another California Republican, Rep. Darrell Issa, told his
colleagues, “If you want to stifle innovation, vote for this.”
If Republicans win control of the House or Senate in the
November elections, they are certain to try to crimp the activism of the FTC
and to challenge its broader interpretation of its legal authority.
The more sweeping antitrust proposals would restrict
powerful tech companies from favoring their own products and services over
rivals on their platforms and could even lead to mandated breakups separating
companies’ dominant platforms from their other businesses. They could, for
example, prevent Amazon from steering consumers to its own brands and away from
competitors’ products on its giant e-commerce platform.
The drafting of that legislation marked a new turn in
Congress’ effort to curb the dominance of the tech giants and anti-competitive
practices that critics say have hurt consumers, small businesses and
innovation. But the proposal is complex and drew objections to some provisions
from lawmakers of both parties, even though all condemn the tech giants’
conduct.
Lawmakers have faced a delicate task as they try to tighten
reins around a powerful industry whose services, mostly free or nearly so, are
popular with consumers and embedded into daily life.
So with time to act running out as the November elections
approach in about six weeks, lawmakers extracted the less controversial
provisions on antitrust court venues and merger filing fees, putting them into
the new bill that passed.
Lawmakers added the provision targeting foreign subsidies to
U.S. companies. Republicans especially have vocally criticized the Chinese
ownership of popular video platform TikTok.
In the Senate, Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar is
sponsoring similar legislation with Republicans Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Mike
Lee of Utah.
“Effective antitrust enforcement is critical to ensuring
consumers and small businesses have the opportunity to compete," Klobuchar
said in a statement Thursday. “Enforcers cannot take on the biggest companies
the world has ever known with duct tape and Band-Aids."
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