Parties At Odds In Final Stages Of House’s Big Tech Report

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, partisan divisions are emerging in the final stage of a congressional inquiry into US technology giants.

The disagreements between Democrats and Republicans on the House Antitrust Subcommittee are focused on policy recommendations growing out of the panel’s 16-month-long probe into the market power of Apple, Amazon.com, Alphabet’s Google, and Facebook according to congressional aides.

The House panel is preparing a report detailing its conclusions. It had been expected to publish Monday, but hasn’t yet been released.

Republicans are privately balking at some ideas in the draft report, which was penned primarily by Democratic staff, reported the WSJ. GOP lawmakers don’t support a Democratic proposal to separate large online platforms from other lines of business, the aides said. Some Republicans are also disappointed the report doesn’t discuss the companies’ power to moderate online speech, a hot-button issue for conservatives, the aides said.

Other recommendations have bipartisan support, including boosting resources for US antitrust enforcers and making legal changes that could make it harder for a large tech company to buy another firm, the aides said. One proposal aims to put a heavier burden on companies to prove a merger doesn’t hurt competition. Another would require tech companies to report more mergers to US antitrust authorities to review.