Taking on ‘Big Tech’ Emerges as the One Issue With Bipartisan Consensus in New Congress

Speaker McCarthy quickly stood up to applaud as President Biden declared his intention to go after social media companies during Tuesday night’s State of the Union speech — one of only a few moments when Republicans unanimously cheered the president. The topic is shaping up to be among the small number of issue areas where Mr. Biden and congressional Republicans might work together for a change.A number of bipartisan bills aimed at promoting competition, protecting children and data privacy, and strengthening antitrust laws are pending and could emerge unscathed from the quagmire that is the 118th Congress. Attempting to change “Big Tech” was among the issues the Democrats failed to make much headway on during their two years of total control in Washington. Just before the midterm elections, however, a package of antitrust reform bills passed the House with bipartisan support before stalling in the Senate. The one potential stumbling block to this emerging bipartisan consensus is a personnel one: The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan, recently announced that a libertarian congressman, Thomas Massie, would lead the subcommittee on the administrative state, regulatory reform, and antitrust. Mr. Massie has never served on the subcommittee before, and he replaced a GOP congressman, Ken Buck, who is a lead sponsor of antitrust reform in the House. Mr. Buck was the ranking member of the subcommittee for the last four years. “I was disappointed but not surprised when Jim told me I would not be the subcommittee chair,” Mr. Buck told Fox News. Mr. Massie has been openly hostile to any antitrust enforcement in the past, and has voted against every one of the bipartisan tech bills that have been introduced in the House. There is precedent, though, for members advancing legislation without the support of committee leadership. The bipartisan desire for that change was on full display Tuesday evening. Senator Klobuchar is the lead Democratic sponsor of many of these bills. As head of the Senate antitrust subcommittee, she has been the Democratic Party’s point person on big tech reform. One of her measures, known as the American Innovation and Online Choice Act, would bar tech companies like Amazon and Google from undercutting small businesses that sell or advertise on their platforms. A 2021 report from Reuters found that Amazon copied sellers’ products, listed them for lower prices, and advertised those products more aggressively than the originals. Ms. Klobuchar believes that her legislation has a chance of making it through this divided Congress if Democrats and Mr. Biden are willing to make it a priority. “After successfully pushing for more funding for antitrust enforcers in 2022, we must update our laws for the digital age,” Ms. Klobuchar said in a statement. “I’m glad the President continues to support efforts in Congress to pass federal privacy protections, hold social media companies accountable, and restore competition throughout the digital economy.”A bill with smaller implications and less traction in the Senate was introduced by Ms. Klobuchar and Senator Lee. The bill would promote greater transparency and competition in online advertising. “Digital advertising is the lifeblood of our internet economy,” Mr. Lee said in a statement, adding that it was “essential” for services like journalism and e-commerce. The prospects for the bill have been buoyed by the wide variety of individuals and groups supporting it. Senators Cruz and Blumenthal co-sponsored the legislation. The conservative Heritage Action for America, as well as the liberal American Economic Liberties Project, have also pledged support. The House passed an antitrust enforcement bill last year that has already been reintroduced after the Senate failed to act, making it one of the most likely pieces of legislation to pass. Last year, a wide bipartisan majority supported the bill, which would increase the staff, budget, and scope of the executive branch’s antitrust enforcement agencies. Under the law, states would also have the ability to decide in which court they could sue Silicon Valley’s most powerful companies, taking the cases out of Northern California’s courts, which analysts refer to as the companies’ “home court advantage.”

Taking on ‘Big Tech’ Emerges as the One Issue With Bipartisan Consensus in New Congress

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