Big Tech to Face Another Bipartisan Antitrust Bill in US

A bipartisan group of lawmakers, headed by Senators Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, and Republican Chuck Grassley, plan to introduce a invoice that will bar Big Tech platforms, like Amazon and Alphabet’s Google, from favouring their services.

The invoice is one in every of a slew launched on this Congress geared toward reining in tech corporations, together with trade leaders Facebook and Apple. Thus far none have change into legislation though one, a broader measure to extend assets for antitrust enforcers, has handed the Senate.

This invoice, which Klobuchar’s workplace mentioned can be launched early subsequent week, can be a companion to a measure which has handed the House Judiciary Committee. It should move each homes of Congress to change into legislation.

Klobuchar and Grassley’s invoice would particularly prohibit platforms from requiring firms working on their websites to buy the platform’s items or companies and ban them from biasing search outcomes to favour the platform.

“As dominant digital platforms – some of the biggest companies our world has ever seen – increasingly give preference to their own products and services, we must put policies in place to ensure small businesses and entrepreneurs still have the opportunity to succeed in the digital marketplace,” Klobuchar mentioned in an announcement.

Klobuchar is chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee whereas Grassley is the highest Republican on the total committee. Co-sponsors embrace Democrats like Senator Dick Durbin, chair of the total Judiciary Committee, Richard Blumenthal, and Cory Booker, in addition to Republicans Lindsey Graham, John Kennedy, and Cynthia Lummis.

© Thomson Reuters 2021