Legislation Aims to Stop Big Tech Platforms From Making Acquisitions That Grow Their Market Power and Kill Competitive Threats

Sens. Klobuchar and Cotton introduce bipartisan merger bill to promote competition, opportunity, and consumer choice in tech

WASHINGTON – Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) introduced the “Platform Competition and Opportunity Act of 2021,” aimed at blocking Big Tech platforms from making killer acquisitions and using mergers to fortify their market power.

The bill prohibits acquisitions by covered platforms outright, and puts the onus on the platforms to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the mergers don’t harm competition — a major shift from the current process, which puts the burden of proof on antitrust agencies seeking to block anticompetitive mergers.

In response, Barry Lynn, executive director at Open Markets Institute, issued the following statement:

“We applaud Sen. Klobuchar for developing bipartisan legislation that aims to prevent platform monopolists from cementing and augmenting their already dangerous levels of power.

“This bill is an important step toward ensuring that Big Tech platforms cannot continue to fortify and expand their dominance through acquisition, or to eliminate competitive threats simply by buying them. Absent congressional action, platform monopolists will continue to manipulate commerce and communications in ways that threaten our democracy and wreak havoc on the free press, workers, communities, and small businesses across the country.

“We look forward to working closely with Sen. Klobuchar and other partners to further strengthen this bill, and other legislative efforts to loosen Big Tech’s concentrated control of America’s critical infrastructure of speech and commerce.”

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