A couple of weeks ago, the Democrats of the House of Representatives in the United States introduced five antitrust bills, in order to undo the “monopoly power” of the Big Tech. However, the executives of these big companies have not been stood idly by. One example is Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, who has lobbied some members of Congress.
According to, the executive called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as well as other members of Congress to issue a warning that the bills are rushed, would stop innovation and harm users by disrupting technology services.
However, Pelosi rejected Cook’s concerns about the legislation and even requested a delay in the process of consideration of the projects by the Judiciary Committee.
The implementation of these actions, reported the US newspaper, has not been only by the executives, since “lobbyists and more than a dozen defense groups paid by technology companies have invaded the offices of the Capitol, they have called and sent Emails to legislators and members of their staff have written letters arguing that there will be serious consequences for the industry and the country if the ideas are turned into law.
It should be remembered that these bills target Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google, with the aim of undoing their dominance in online commerce, advertising, media and entertainment, in addition to seeking to empower regulators so that the process of acquiring new companies is more difficult for the tech giants.
Brian Huseman, one of Amazon’s top lobbyists, said in a statement that the legislation “would have significant negative effects on the hundreds of thousands and small and medium-sized American businesses that sell in our store and the tens of millions of consumers who buy products. on Amazon ”.
Likewise, the vice president of global affairs at Google, Kent Walker, has called on legislators to vote against it. Even Mark Isakowitz, the company’s chief lobbyist, said these laws would alter the way users use the internet and “break many of their favorite services.”
For his part, Chritopher Sgro, a Facebook spokesman, told the Times that antitrust laws should be focused on promoting competition and protecting consumers, but “not punishing successful American companies.”
In contrast, last week, legislator David Cicilline, chairman of the antitrust subcommittee, spoke about the crisis generated by the power of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. “These modern ‘robber barons’ are increasing their power through anti-competitive means,” he told a news conference accompanied by fellow Republicans and Democrats.
Likewise, one of the top Republican antitrust Republicans, Congressman Ken Buck, said he was skeptical about the need for additional antitrust laws, though over time he has changed his mind: “I think you’ll see more Republican support as people understand more about the affair”.
Within Congress, progressive Democrats have found support from some Republicans, like Buck himself, who have also argued that businesses, especially social media companies, have a political and censorship bias.
However, the legislation has found contrary positions in the Republican Party, such as that of Representative Jim Jordan, from Ohio, or Mark Meadows, who was President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, who wrote an article where they said that the laws would give him more control to the Democratic administration over technology companies.
Another relevant point in this discussion is the appointment of Lina Khan as president of the Federal Trade Commission, since the legal academic is one of those that has been critical of the large companies in the sector and even her work on the matter laid the foundations for push antitrust measures.
This lobbying by Big Tech, said Democrat Parmila Jayapal, is because “they have too much power in terms of monopoly, money and politics. Small businesses and consumers have no hope of competing with that amount of money and power. “
