Story
A frustrated US senator has proposed a ban on Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft.
According to CNET, US Senator Josh Hawley, a vocal opponent of Big Tech, introduced an antitrust bill on Monday that would prohibit all mergers and acquisitions by firms with a market cap of more than $100 billion, such as Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft.
“A small group of woke mega-corporations control the products Americans can buy, the information Americans can receive, and the speech Americans can engage in,” Hawley said in a statement Monday.” “These monopoly powers control our speech, our economy, our country, and their control has only grown because Washington has aided and abetted their quest for endless power. These platforms are determining elections, banning inconvenient political views, lining politicians’ pockets with hundreds of millions of dollars, and addicting our kids to screens”, he added.
The bill will give the Federal Trade Commission the authority to classify businesses that have a dominant market position as "internet dominant firms" and prevent them from acquiring potential competitors. Such businesses will also be barred from prioritizing their own search results without revealing the details.
Companies who lose antitrust proceedings in federal antitrust courts will also have to forfeit any profits arising from monopolistic conduct, according to Hawley's bill.
Google, Facebook, and other tech behemoths have been criticized for their size and scope. Legislators and regulators are worried that their power would harm consumers in the long run, especially by stifling competition from smaller players in Silicon Valley. Three antitrust lawsuits have been filed against Google. A pair of lawsuits were brought against Facebook in December, attempting to separate Instagram and WhatsApp from the social media giant.
