{"id":845074,"date":"2021-10-04T12:13:31","date_gmt":"2021-10-04T16:13:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=845074"},"modified":"2021-10-04T12:13:34","modified_gmt":"2021-10-04T16:13:34","slug":"rep-ken-buck-says-antitrust-bills-tackle-big-techs-fundamental-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rep-ken-buck-says-antitrust-bills-tackle-big-techs-fundamental-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"Rep. Ken Buck Says Antitrust Bills Tackle Big Tech\u2019s \u2018Fundamental\u2019 Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frep-ken-buck-says-antitrust-bills-tackle-big-techs-fundamental-problems%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=845074&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><ul>\n<li><strong>Colorado Rep. Ken Buck is leading the charge among Republican lawmakers to break up Big Tech, co-sponsoring six bipartisan antitrust bills set to hit the House floor next month.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The bills&nbsp;target Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon, and aim to create greater competition in digital markets as well as protect consumers by increasing data portability, making it harder for tech companies to acquire competitors, and preventing platforms from prioritizing their own services.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u201cWhat has happened in the marketplace is that these companies have become so enormous that they\u2019re gobbling up these small competitors, sometimes putting them on the shelf so they don\u2019t have a competitor and sometimes integrating the new technology into their platforms,\u201d Buck said in an interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act, which Buck sponsored, allows for state attorneys general to remain in the court they select during an antitrust lawsuit, preventing the case from being moved to courts more favorable to Big Tech.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Colorado Rep. Ken Buck is leading the charge among Republican lawmakers to break up Big Tech, co-sponsoring six bipartisan antitrust bills set to hit the House floor next month.<\/p>\n<p>Following the conclusion of a 16-month <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2020\/10\/07\/oil-barons-railroad-tycoons-big-tech-amazon-apple-facebook-google-restructured-house-judiciary-report\/\">investigation<\/a>&nbsp;by the House Judiciary Committee into anticompetitive conduct by major tech companies, Buck, who serves as Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law, helped lead the drafting and introduction of a series of bills aimed at addressing Big Tech\u2019s perceived monopoly power.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/06\/24\/bills-combatting-big-techs-monopolistic-practices-closer-law-bipartisan\/\">bills<\/a> target Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon, and aim to create greater competition in digital markets as well as protect consumers by increasing data portability, making it harder for tech companies to acquire competitors, and preventing platforms from prioritizing their own services. If passed, the bills would be by far the most substantial pieces of legislation governing social media platforms, and would significantly alter the ways in which tech companies do business. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/06\/08\/ken-buck-demands-clarification-apple-ceo-tim-cook-letter-forced-labor-china\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Rep. Ken Buck Demands Clarification From Apple CEO Over Alleged Forced Labor Ties In China)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While Buck oversaw the passage of the legislation out of the House Judiciary Committee in June, the bills have yet to see the House floor, prompting some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/morning-tech\/2021\/09\/29\/senate-commerce-launches-long-awaited-privacy-hearings-797919\">frustration<\/a>&nbsp;and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2021-10-01\/tech-giants-get-new-chance-to-weigh-in-on-house-antitrust-bills\">concern<\/a> amid lawmakers. Buck told the Daily Caller News Foundation he\u2019s pleased with the bills\u2019 progress, especially considering Congress\u2019s chaotic last few months.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7238524\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"33\">\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7238524\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rep. Ken Buck questions officials during the House impeachment hearings. (Photo by Doug Mills-Pool\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t agree that the bills have stalled; I think this is exactly what the legislative process should look like,\u201d Buck said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re dealing with fundamental changes in the law like these bills propose, it\u2019s a good thing that we\u2019re taking time.\u201d <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/17\/arizona-blake-masters-big-tech-google-facebook\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Arizona Senate Candidate Blake Masters Plans To Tackle Big Tech\u2019s \u2018Predatory\u2019 Business Practices)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The bills enjoy strong bipartisan support, with Republicans such as Reps. Madison Cawthorn, Burgess Owens and Lance Gooden and top House Democrats such as Reps. David Cicilline and Pramila Jayapal throwing their weight behind the antitrust package.<\/p>\n<p>However, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have also voiced their concerns. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Republican Rep. Jim Jordan view the legislation as not adequately addressing problems of political censorship, while several moderate Democrats <a href=\"https:\/\/newdemocratcoalition.house.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/2021-06-18_NDC%20Leadership%20Letter%20Requesting%20Legislative%20Hearings%20on%20Antitrust%20Bills_vF.pdf\">attempted<\/a> to stall committee action on the bills due to potential \u201cunintended consequences\u201d in digital markets. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/07\/15\/amazon-antitrust-big-tech-department-of-justice-facebook-federal-trade-commission-google\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: How Can Antitrust Lawsuits Against Big Tech Succeed?)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Buck told the DCNF he views the bills as encouraging \u201cgrassroots\u201d antitrust enforcement, in which states are empowered to act as enforcers. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/117th-congress\/senate-bill\/1787\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act<\/a>, which Buck sponsored, allows for state attorneys general to remain in the court they select during an antitrust lawsuit, preventing the case from being moved to courts more favorable to Big Tech.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a very strong supporter of federalism I think the state attorneys general see a lot at the ground level that Congress, the Federal Trade Commission, or the Department of Justice don\u2019t,\u201d Buck said. \u201cIt\u2019s important that we have this grassroots enforcement mechanism, and what we\u2019ve done is give the state attorneys general the same ability to choose their venue as the federal government.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7022424\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"34\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7022424\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7022424\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/GettyImages-1128300115-scaled-e1602084461293.jpg\" alt=\"House Judiciary Committee member Rep. David Cicilline talks with Chairman Jerry Nadler during a hearing on Feb. 8, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/GettyImages-1128300115-scaled-e1602084461293.jpg 2080w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GettyImages-1128300115-scaled-e1602084461293-282x120.jpg 282w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GettyImages-1128300115-scaled-e1602084461293-620x265.jpg 620w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GettyImages-1128300115-scaled-e1602084461293-768x328.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GettyImages-1128300115-scaled-e1602084461293-1536x656.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GettyImages-1128300115-scaled-e1602084461293-2048x875.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2080px) 100vw, 2080px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7022424\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">House Judiciary Committee member Rep. David Cicilline talks with Chairman Jerry Nadler during a hearing on Feb. 8, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Buck said he approved of recent antitrust challenges to major tech companies brought by state attorneys general, such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2020\/12\/16\/texas-states-google-antitrust-lawsuit-big-tech\/\">complaint<\/a>&nbsp;led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton against Google in December 2020, and saw the bill as a way to help similar lawsuits be filed in the future. Buck also said he viewed state-level legislation targeting tech companies, such as Florida\u2019s social media <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/05\/24\/strongest-thing-any-state-has-done-ron-desantis-lauds-floridas-anti-big-tech-bill\/\">law<\/a>&nbsp;and California\u2019s data privacy <a href=\"https:\/\/oag.ca.gov\/privacy\/ccpa\">rules<\/a>, as a way forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStates are the laboratories of innovation,\u201d Buck said. \u201cAddressing Big Tech is really just another example of what states have done very successfully.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite favoring a more state-level, federalized approach to antitrust enforcement, Buck said he still sees a place for the FTC and DOJ. While several top Republicans who have been active in proposing antitrust legislation targeting Big Tech, such as Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. Jim Jordan, have raised <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/10\/01\/lina-khan-federal-trade-commission-republican-jim-jordan-darrell-issa\/\">concerns<\/a>&nbsp;over further empowering the FTC, Buck argued that aggressive federal antitrust enforcement is long overdue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat has happened in the marketplace is that these companies have become so enormous that they\u2019re gobbling up these small competitors, sometimes putting them on the shelf so they don\u2019t have a competitor and sometimes integrating the new technology into their platforms,\u201d Buck told the DCNF. \u201cI think there were around 750 mergers in the technology industry that went unchallenged, and that\u2019s really the origins of the fundamental problems we\u2019re seeing today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Buck told the DCNF the bills would help address these fundamental problems.<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/15\/big-tech-apple-amazon-leon-panetta\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Breaking Up Big Tech Tech Could \u2018Degrade\u2019 Innovation And Give China The Upper Hand, Former National Security Officials Warn)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can see today in Instagram, WhatsApp, or Youtube the results of mergers six or seven years ago,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s almost impossible for the FTC or DOJ to address those problems in a court of law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, several of the bills Buck co-sponsored directly empower antitrust enforcement agencies to restructure tech companies.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7229268\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"35\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7229268\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7229268\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/leeklobuchar-scaled-e1625255193684.jpg\" alt=\"U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) confer during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill. (Photo by Win McNamee\/Getty Images)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/leeklobuchar-scaled-e1625255193684.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/leeklobuchar-scaled-e1625255193684-279x120.jpg 279w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/leeklobuchar-scaled-e1625255193684-620x266.jpg 620w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/leeklobuchar-scaled-e1625255193684-768x330.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/leeklobuchar-scaled-e1625255193684-1536x660.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/leeklobuchar-scaled-e1625255193684-2048x880.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7229268\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) confer during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill March 19, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/cicilline.house.gov\/sites\/cicilline.house.gov\/files\/documents\/Ending%20Platform%20Monopolies%20-%20Bill%20Text.pdf\">Ending Platform Monopolies Act<\/a>&nbsp;would enable the FTC to spin off or eliminate certain products or services that create \u201cconflicts of interest\u201d for major tech platforms. For example, the bill could force Amazon to discontinue selling <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/stores\/AmazonBasics\/AmazonBasics\/page\/947C6949-CF8E-4BD3-914A-B411DD3E4433\">Amazon Basics<\/a>&nbsp;products on its online marketplace.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, the <a href=\"https:\/\/cicilline.house.gov\/sites\/cicilline.house.gov\/files\/documents\/Platform%20Competition%20and%20Opportunity%20Act%20-%20Bill%20Text%20%281%29.pdf\">Platform Competition and Opportunity Act<\/a>&nbsp;would prevent platforms with more than 50 million monthly active users in the U.S. from holding more than 25% of a competitor\u2019s stock. The bill could potentially outlaw future acquisitions of smaller competitors by large tech companies, a practice Facebook was <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2020\/12\/09\/federal-trade-commission-states-file-lawsuit-facebook-antitrust-violations\/\">sued<\/a>&nbsp;for in December by the FTC.<\/p>\n<p>Buck also differs from several high-profile Republican politicians such as Sen. Josh Hawley on solutions to political censorship by social media companies, viewing biased content moderation as a problem of inadequate competition. Buck said the issue of censorship should be tackled with stronger competition laws, and sees the antitrust bills as a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am very concerned about the federal government getting involved in defining appropriate speech,\u201d Buck said. \u201cIf we have five Facebooks we\u2019ll address the speech issue better than having some government censor decide what is appropriate or dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Buck told the DCNF he expects the bills to hit the House floor in November. Lawmakers in the Senate, including Republicans Josh Hawley, Tom Cotton, and Chuck Grassley, and Democrats such as Amy Klobuchar, are <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/10\/tom-cotton-josh-hawley-big-tech-bills\/\">working<\/a>&nbsp;to draft companion legislation to the antitrust package.<\/p>\n<p>Klobuchar and Sen. Mike Lee advanced a companion bill to Buck\u2019s State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in late September. Recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/now\/top-republican-opposes-bipartisan-house-140300498.html\">reports<\/a>&nbsp;indicate the Senate\u2019s version of the other antitrust bills will not be identical to those advanced in the House.<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Colorado Rep. Ken Buck is leading the charge among Republican lawmakers to break up Big Tech, co-sponsoring six bipartisan antitrust bills set to hit the House floor next month. The &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-845074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=845074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=845074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=845074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=845074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}