Congress Proves Big Tech’s Dominance Threatens Democracy

Big Tech’s pervasive, exploitative and illegal practices are on display

WASHINGTON — As the House Judiciary Committee hearing unfolds, Barry Lynn, executive director for Open Markets Institute, issues the following statement:

“We strongly commend Rep. David Cicilline and Rep. Jerrold Nadler for leading a masterful investigation of these Big Tech CEOs so far. Congress is making it absolutely clear that Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon abuse their power in ways that threaten American democracy. 

“Open Markets Institute has long made clear that these corporations are gatekeepers able to manipulate how citizens speak to one another and do business with one another, and that they must be made subject to non-discrimination and neutrality rules, as the American people have done with every previous network monopoly.

“Every one of these CEOs speaks about the importance of ensuring that America remains the land of opportunity. What they seem to have forgotten is that antitrust law is what gave the founders of these corporations the opportunity to go into business and thrive, safe from predation by powerful incumbent corporations. If the American people had not brought an antitrust suit against Microsoft in the late 1990s, none of these corporations would exist today. We have no choice but to break up Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple if we want America to remain the land of opportunity.”

###