House Judiciary Committee to investigate "weak" antitrust enforcement of technology firms

A bipartisan investigation from the House Judiciary Committee is slated to examine dominant firms in the tech industry and review whether existing laws are sufficient to deal with competition issues within digital markets.

The House Antitrust Subcommittee has announced a bipartisan investigation into so-called Big Tech companies. While specific companies have not been named in the announcement, Chairman David N. Cicilline (RI-01) specified that it is aimed at "platform gatekeepers" and "dominant firms."

"The growth of monopoly power across our economy is one of the most pressing economic and political challenges we face today," said Cicilline in a statement. "Market power in digital markets presents a whole new set of dangers."

"After four decades of weak antitrust enforcement and judicial hostility to antitrust cases," he continued, "it is critical that Congress step in to determine whether existing laws are adequate to tackle abusive conduct by platform gatekeepers or whether we need new legislation to respond to this challenge."

The committee is to issue "requests for information that are relevant to the investigation" and will also hold a series of hearings held by the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law.

"The open internet has delivered enormous benefits to Americans," added Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) in the same statement, "but there is growing evidence that a handful of gatekeepers have come to capture control over key arteries of online commerce, content, and communications."

Previously, Senator Elizabeth Warren has proposed that such gatekeeper firms, explicitly including Apple, be broken up.

The announcement arrives just hours after reports claimed the Department of Justice recently won jurisdiction to investigate Apple's business practices. The potential antitrust probe, if undertaken, will be part of a wider project to crack down on tech firms.

7 Comments

GeorgeBMac 11421 comments · 8 Years

About 5 years ago

If they want to look into abusive monopolies, they should be looking at healthcare providers (including the pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors) who are causing serious problem for the American people and economy.

There's way too much politics floating around in these "investigations".

I wonder how much FaceBook refusing to take down the doctored version of Pelosi has to deal with these investigations?

tmay 6455 comments · 11 Years

GeorgeBMac said:

I wonder how much FaceBook refusing to take down the doctored version of Pelosi has to deal with these investigations?

That video almost certainly had nothing to do with the investigations.

.@RepJerryNadler: “Given the growing tide of concentration and consolidation across our economy, it is vital that we investigate the current state of competition in digital markets and the health of the antitrust laws.”

tmay said:

GeorgeBMac said:

I wonder how much FaceBook refusing to take down the doctored version of Pelosi has to deal with these investigations?

That video almost certainly had nothing to do with the investigations.

.@RepJerryNadler: “Given the growing tide of concentration and consolidation across our economy, it is vital that we investigate the current state of competition in digital markets and the health of the antitrust laws.”

I don't know....   With all that is going on, having monopolies in tech doesn't seem like a real high priority to me.   Particularly if they aren't abusing that monopoly. It wouldn't take much to list a dozen other far more pressing issues worthy of investigation.

But, a major media outlet (which FaceBook is) knowingly allowing itself to be used to spread disinformation (foreign or domestic) certainly needs to be looked at and at least discussed.   And, if they did that i would say "Good!   We need to have that conversation".

But to go after them as violating anti-trust laws?   That just reeks of a scam investigation with ulterior motives to me.

GeorgeBMac said:

tmay said:

GeorgeBMac said:

I wonder how much FaceBook refusing to take down the doctored version of Pelosi has to deal with these investigations?

That video almost certainly had nothing to do with the investigations.

.@RepJerryNadler: “Given the growing tide of concentration and consolidation across our economy, it is vital that we investigate the current state of competition in digital markets and the health of the antitrust laws.”

I don't know....   With all that is going on, having monopolies in tech doesn't seem like a real high priority to me.   Particularly if they aren't abusing that monopoly. It wouldn't take much to list a dozen other far more pressing issues worthy of investigation.

But, a major media outlet (which FaceBook is) knowingly allowing itself to be used to spread disinformation (foreign or domestic) certainly needs to be looked at and at least discussed.   And, if they did that i would say "Good!   We need to have that conversation".

But to go after them as violating anti-trust laws?   That just reeks of a scam investigation with ulterior motives to me.

Reread Democratic Representative and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Nadler's statements, maybe a couple of times, to get what he is stating.

It sure appears to me that this investigation is driven by "concentration and consolidation", which there certainly has been.

tmay said:

GeorgeBMac said:

tmay said:

GeorgeBMac said:

I wonder how much FaceBook refusing to take down the doctored version of Pelosi has to deal with these investigations?

That video almost certainly had nothing to do with the investigations.

.@RepJerryNadler: “Given the growing tide of concentration and consolidation across our economy, it is vital that we investigate the current state of competition in digital markets and the health of the antitrust laws.”

I don't know....   With all that is going on, having monopolies in tech doesn't seem like a real high priority to me.   Particularly if they aren't abusing that monopoly. It wouldn't take much to list a dozen other far more pressing issues worthy of investigation.

But, a major media outlet (which FaceBook is) knowingly allowing itself to be used to spread disinformation (foreign or domestic) certainly needs to be looked at and at least discussed.   And, if they did that i would say "Good!   We need to have that conversation".

But to go after them as violating anti-trust laws?   That just reeks of a scam investigation with ulterior motives to me.

Reread Democratic Representative and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Nadler's statements, maybe a couple of times, to get what he is stating.

It sure appears to me that this investigation is driven by "concentration and consolidation", which there certainly has been.

I don't doubt that is what he said...
I do doubt that that, considering all the other very serious problems facing this nation, is the underlying reason.

Perhaps it is.   But it fails the stink test -- so I doubt it.

As I mentioned, one possibility is the alarm bells that went off when Facebook refused to take down the doctored video.   That shows that they are willing to pawn almost anything off on the American people. And, after coming out of one election that was manipulated by a concerted disinformation attack and headed into another, that is a concerning issue.   But it isn't an anti-trust issue.

Another possibility is that they're mollifying the crazy corporate hating Progressives who, like other extremists, tend to make lots of noise and trouble. But again, that's not an anti-trust issue.

I just want and expect honesty and transparency in my government -- regardless of party.