U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Texas) introduced a bill Monday (April 19) that would target companies like Google and Amazon, making it harder to market and use certain online services. The move is designed to combat concerns over the enormous power these tech giants enjoy.
Hawley’s office told Fox News that Hawley’s new, more targeted bill would prohibit big tech giants that own online marketplaces or search engines from having online hosting services.
In a statement, Hawley said big tech companies like Google and Amazon have been coddled by Washington politicians for years. That treatment has allowed them to amass enormous power, which they use to censor political views they disagree with and shut out competitors who offer alternatives to consumers. It’s time to bust the power of these big tech companies and “restore competition and give power back to the American consumer.”
Hawley’s office provided two specific examples to illustrate what the bill would do if enacted. It would prohibit Amazon from selling Amazon-branded products on the Amazon Marketplace, an e-commerce platform owned and operated by Amazon, because its competitors also operate on the platform. The bill would also prohibit Amazon from owning a large number of cloud computing services used by many online companies and continuing to operate its ubiquitous retail business.
The bill would also give the Federal Trade Commission the prerogative to monitor compliance with regulations and allow state attorneys general and individual citizens to sue technology companies they believe are violating the regulations.
There are multiple other efforts in Congress to rein in the power of big tech companies, including from Democrats. Hawley said he is open to working with Democrats to fight tech companies.
Hawley framed his efforts as aimed at bringing the U.S. economy back into balance.
He tweeted last week that Amazon should be broken up. No company should be allowed to control both e-commerce and be able to offer advantages for its products on the same platform as it controls cloud services.
Recent Comments