(LibertySociety.com) – When consumers worldwide turn to Google or Amazon to look for items they want to buy, they expect their search engine will provide the best results possible. But an extensive Reuters investigation from October 2020 showed that might not be the case. In fact, tech giants could be showing their own products to customers and overshadowing the competition to increase profits.
In response to the alleged practice, the House Judiciary subcommittee created a set of bipartisan antitrust reform bills that’ll force Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple to change their business models to encourage competition and temper monopoly practices.
Big Tech companies like Google have abused their monopoly power, destroying competition through anticompetitive acquisitions and using their gatekeeper power to crush competitors.
Congress must pass the American Innovation and Choice Online Act. https://t.co/VZCzg20JQC
— Rep. Ken Buck (@RepKenBuck) October 15, 2021
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said the bill needs to pass to “rein in big tech.” Proponents of the legislation believe these businesses are hurting small business owners by hiding their goods from buyers.
But former Google executive Adam Kovacevich and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced the claims aren’t true. They maintain such legislation would hurt consumers by eliminating products people love to buy and prevent searches from showing them the best products.
If passed, the five-bill package will not only prevent companies from fixing search results in their favor, but they’ll make it more difficult for monopolies to grow by changing merger laws. The aim is to level the playing field for every sized company in the marketplace and give each business a fair shot at reaching customers.
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