{"id":897371,"date":"2021-10-19T09:58:57","date_gmt":"2021-10-19T13:58:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=897371"},"modified":"2021-10-19T10:02:39","modified_gmt":"2021-10-19T14:02:39","slug":"senators-introduce-bill-aimed-at-controlling-big-tech-and-restoring-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senators-introduce-bill-aimed-at-controlling-big-tech-and-restoring-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Senators Introduce Bill Aimed at Controlling Big Tech and Restoring Competition"},"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%2Fsenators-introduce-bill-aimed-at-controlling-big-tech-and-restoring-competition%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=897371&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--><p>A dozen\u00a0Republican and Democratic senators on Oct. 18 introduced a bill aimed at\u00a0stopping <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-big-tech\">Big Tech<\/a> from limiting consumer choice and restoring competition online.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) joined\u00a0Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in\u00a0introducing the bill, known as the American Innovation and Choice Online Act.<\/p>\n<p>It is cosponsored by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Steve Daines (R-Mont.).<\/p>\n<p>The bill would help to restore competition online by \u201cestablishing commonsense rules of the road for dominant digital platforms to prevent them from abusing their market power to harm competition, online businesses and consumers and from reducing incentives to innovate,\u201d according to a statement issued by Kennedy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBig Tech has a track record of unfairly limiting consumer choices and thwarting free-market competition. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act would help offer consumers more options at competitive prices from businesses online, which is what the American economy is supposed to do best,\u201d\u00a0said Kennedy.<\/p>\n<p>The American Innovation and Choice Online Act, which is similar to a bill introduced earlier this year by House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust Chairman David Cicilline (D-R.I.), would make it illegal for large tech companies to engage in discriminatory behavior, including disadvantaging rivals.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, it\u00a0would prohibit\u00a0dominant Big Tech platforms like\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-amazon\">Amazon<\/a> and Alphabet\u2019s Google from abusing their power by favoring their own products and services,\u00a0disadvantaging rivals, or discriminating among businesses that use their platforms in a way that harms competition on the platform.<\/p>\n<p>It would also prohibit certain harmful conduct, such as misusing a business\u2019s data to gain a\u00a0competitive advantage, requiring a business to buy a dominant platform\u2019s goods or services for preferred placement on its platform, preventing another business\u2019s product or service from interoperating with the dominant platform or another business, and banning them from biasing search results to favor the platform.<\/p>\n<p>The bill would also give\u00a0antitrust enforcers the power to hold large tech companies accountable for illegal behavior by giving them a range of tools to deter such violations.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, Klobuchar doubled down on the need for such a bill, stating a lack of opportunity for smaller businesses due to fierce competition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs dominant digital platforms\u2014some of the biggest companies our world has ever seen\u2014increasingly 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,\u201d Klobuchar said in an Oct. 14 statement.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4037053\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2021\/10\/07\/google-android-1200x818.jpg\" width=\"1200\" height=\"818\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4037053\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/google-android-600x409-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"600\" height=\"409\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Google app is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken on July 13, 2021. (Dado Ruvic\/Reuters)<\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3695817\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2021\/02\/13\/big-tech-phone-1200x800.jpg\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3695817\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/big-tech-phone-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"big tech\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>An illustration file photograph shows the logos of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft displayed on a mobile phone and a laptop screen. (Justin Tallis\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>However, the bill would have dramatic implications for companies such as Google, Apple, and Amazon, which have been suspected of positioning their own products above their competitors in order to generate higher profits.<\/p>\n<p>The giant tech companies have denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n<p>Amazon said it fears the bill could harm consumers and small businesses that utilize its online store. It urged Congress to \u201cconsider these consequences\u201d before rushing through the \u201cambiguously worded bill.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Prior to the bill\u2019s announcement,\u00a0Brian Huseman, vice president of Amazon\u2019s Public Policy, said in a statement\u00a0that,\u00a0if it were to became law, the bill\u00a0\u201cwould harm consumers and the more than 500,000 U.S. small and medium-sized businesses that sell in the Amazon store, and it would put at risk the more than 1 million jobs created by those businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It would also \u201cjeopardize Amazon\u2019s ability to operate a marketplace for sellers,\u00a0and it would significantly degrade the benefits of\u00a0Amazon\u00a0Prime that customers love,\u201d Amazon said.<\/p>\n<p>Google said that the measure would make it more difficult for companies to offer free services\u2014such as Google\u2019s own maps and search\u2014and would make \u201cthose services less safe, less private and less secure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Facebook, which said that it competes with a range of social media, including TikTok and Twitter, said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-antitrust-laws\">antitrust laws<\/a> should \u201cnot attempt to dismantle the products and services people depend on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The bill would not break up the companies or force them to drop services but bars some bad behaviors that affect businesses that rely on their platforms, said Stacy Mitchell with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance who said that she would prefer a more aggressive bill.<\/p>\n<p>Klobuchar said companies including Spotify, Roku, Match Group, and DuckDuckGo have endorsed the bill.<\/p>\n<p>The bill is one of several that a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-bipartisan\">bipartisan<\/a> group of 30 U.S. state attorneys general are urging lawmakers to pass in an effort to\u00a0tighten antitrust laws aimed at\u00a0Big Tech companies.<\/p>\n<p>They include the Ending Platform Monopolies Act, the Platform Competition and Opportunity Act, the Augmenting Compatibility and Competition by Enabling Service Switching (\u201cACCESS\u201d) Act, the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act, and the State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act.<\/p>\n<p><em>Reuters contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ttl7dayERL_WEB_KatabellaRoberts.jpg\" alt=\"Katabella Roberts\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"names\">\n<p>Katabella Roberts<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Katabella Roberts is a reporter currently based in Turkey. She covers news and business for The Epoch Times, focusing primarily on the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A dozen\u00a0Republican and Democratic senators on Oct. 18 introduced a bill aimed at\u00a0stopping Big Tech from limiting consumer choice and restoring competition online. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) joined\u00a0Sens. Amy Klobuchar &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"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-897371","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\/897371","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\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=897371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897371\/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=897371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=897371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=897371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}