Bipartisan Bill Protecting People From Platform Monopolists, Led by Sens. Klobuchar and Grassley, Passes out of Senate Judiciary Committee

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, declares favorable markup for American Innovation and Choice Online Act, Jan. 20, 2022. Source: www.judiciary.senate.gov

Bill addresses platform self-preferencing

WASHINGTON— Moments ago, “The American Innovation and Choice Online Act” introduced by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), with 12 bipartisan co-sponsors, passed out of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary by a vote of 16-6. The bill should now proceed to a full Senate vote.

In response, Barry Lynn, executive director of Open Markets Institute, released the following statement:

“The concentration of power and control by private monopolists over our commerce and communications is the great economic threat of our time. For years now, Big Tech corporations have been manipulating the American people and American business in ways that threaten our democracy and wreak havoc on the free press, workers, communities, and independent businesses across the nation. All of us at Open Markets applaud today’s effort to ensure that the corporations that control the critical infrastructure of American commerce and communications cannot give preference to their own goods, services, and information at the expense of everyone else.

“Sens. Klobuchar and Grassley today demonstrated strong leadership in proving that Congress can be part of the solution in dealing with this grave and growing crisis. They did so by developing legislation able to address key threats posed by Big Tech, in ways that attracted strong bipartisan support. This bill adds to a powerful and growing national and international movement to prevent dominant tech platforms from unfairly exploiting their power to manipulate how working people, independent businesses, consumers, and communities make decisions and go about their lives.

“We look forward to working closely with Sen. Klobuchar and other partners to further strengthen this bill as it moves to a full Senate vote and to build a new nondiscrimination rule of law for the digital economy of the 21st century.”

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