Congress Set to Pass Seven Landmark Bills to Hold Big Tech Accountable, Break Up Monopolies

     Recently, Brian Deese, Director of the National Economic Council under President Biden, highlighted the progress made on President Biden's executive order on competition in the economy. This historic executive order called for virtually every federal agency to come together and implement dozens of different policy changes, from cracking down on overdraft fees in banking to blocking hospital mergers and allowing hearing aids to be sold over the counter. While many of these changes have been achieved by federal agencies, the order also led to something that hasn't happened in nearly a century: real momentum on antitrust legislation in Congress.

     Congress has already passed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, empowering the Federal Maritime Commission to crack down on unfair shipping practices that drive up prices for consumers. Seven more landmark bills are waiting in the wings of Congress, bills aimed to break up monopolies with a focus on cracking down on Big Tech. The Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act would increase filing fees for large mergers. The State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act, passed by the Senate via voice vote, would bar companies being sued for trust violations by multiple state attorneys general from consolidating the suits or changing the venue to one more favorable for their case.

     The primary focus is on Big Tech. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act would prevent big companies like Amazon from self-preferencing their own products at the expense of competition. The Open App Markets Act would do the same for app markets. The ACCESS Act would mandate data portability to allow users to switch their data between platforms. 

     It's not all antitrust legislation cracking down on Big Tech and making the internet a safer place: the EARN IT Act would amend Section 230, the last remaining section of the Communications Decency Act, to hold websites liable for child sexual abuse material; the See Something, Say Something Online Act would extend this existing anti-terrorism policy online by requiring the reporting of suspicious transmissions.

     All of these bills have bipartisan support and Congress should seek to pass all of them as swiftly as possible. With the goal being to pass them all this session, before the end of the year, it is critically important that you contact your representatives and senators to let them know that you support each of these pieces of legislation. Meanwhile, there is one partisan move Democrats in Congress can make to rein in corporate monopolies, especially Big Tech: confirming Gigi Sohn to head the FCC, which would allow her to restore net neutrality and use the full power of the federal government to crack down on other abuses by Big Tech.