House Dems Push To Breakup Big Tech

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, democratic lawmakers are expected to call on Congress to curtail big technology companies, possibly through forced separation of online platforms, as a House panel concludes its probe into Big Tech companies.

The House Antitrust Subcommittee is nearing completion of a report wrapping up its 15-month investigation of Alphabet’s Google, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook. The report follows the committee’s collection of more than one million documents from the companies and competitors, as well as a July hearing with CEOs of the four tech giants.

Rep. David Cicilline (Democrat – Rhode Island), who chairs the subcommittee, has indicated the panel is poised to recommend significant measures targeting Big Tech’s power, including requiring owners of huge technology platforms to separate those platforms from other businesses.

Mr. Cicilline hasn’t released details, but such a law could potentially ban Amazon from competing with sellers on Amazon.com, or Google from offering services that consumers look for on its search engine.

“You can’t set all the rules, control the marketplace and also sell on it, in the way that Amazon does, for example,” Mr. Cicilline said in a recent podcast for the Brookings Institution think tank.

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