Tony Jarvis writes an op-ed in Media Post about the new book that Sally Hubbard, director of enforcement strategy at Open Markets Institute, wrote entitled, “Monopolies Suck.”
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In the face of the pandemic’s devastating effect on the U.S. economy, the congressional antitrust investigation on Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook revealed the combined earnings of the big tech companies added $250 billion to their market value, The Hill reports. Barry Lynn, OMI’s executive director, is cited from his statement on taking heed of big tech’s predatory behaviors and effecting fundamental changes to their business models.
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SmarterAnalyst’s Ben Mahaney reports on how Alphabet Inc.’s Google faces an antritust investigation, launched by the State of California. The investigation joins the 50 states and territories on their scrutiny of the tech giant’s control on advertising and internet searches. “We applaud the 50 state attorney generals for taking this unprecedented stand against Big Tech by uniting to investigate Google’s destruction of competition in search and advertising,” said the Open Markets Institute.
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Sally Hubbard, OMI's director of enforcement strategy, told Yahoo News' senior political correspondent how Facebook’s use of algorithms favor post engagement — even if the post contains false information or inflammatory remarks. “The problem is that [Facebook’s algorithm] boosts the hateful content because that is what is most engaging and serves Facebook’s business model. I don’t think you can fix this problem by these little Band-Aids that Facebook has been offering,” she said.
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Foreign Policy’s Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman report on the dangers of globalization of the marketplace, warning of systemic fragility and state exploitation. In a call to overhaul the manner in which the global economy operates, Farrell and Newman cite Barry Lynn, OMI’s executive director and founder, for his take on the remodeling of the antitrust.
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Phayul Newsdesk’s Choekyi Lhamo reports on Richard Gere’s appearance before a Senate subcommittee to testify on the effects of censorship from China and mentions Beth Baltzan of Open Markets Institute appearing as a witness.
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Despite its implementation of new policies, Facebook grapples to maintain the spread of the “boogalo” movement on its platform, The Washington Post reports. The movement, known for its anti-government and anti-law enforcement stance, has continued to trickle into varying Facebook pages and groups, spreading misinformation about the protests as well as encouraging armed violence.
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In the days leading up to the congressional antitrust investigation against big tech, Financial Post highlights the work of Lina Khan, a lawyer whose published article “Amazon’s Anti-trust Paradox” set a precedent for addressing new age monopolies in a digital world. With Khan’s rise to the House anti-trust subcommittee, OMI’s Executive Director Barry Lynn is cited for his past work with Khan on the anti-trust policy unit for New America.
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Sandeep Vaheesan, OMI’s legal director, told BBC News’ Sooraj Shah about the inherent risks in acquisition deals, noting the nuances of an increasing reliance on big tech companies. "All of them will be in the M&A [mergers and acquisitions] game if they're not already. Start-ups are more likely to sell out during the pandemic when they might struggle to meet their obligations and the buyout looks especially attractive - the pandemic is speeding up the buyout date in some cases," says Vaheesan.
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Next TV’s John Eggerton reports on the Banning Microtargeted Political Ads Act, proposed by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), which will work to prohibit varying platforms, sites and ad networks from using data-driven political ads that include disinformation and/or misinformation.
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Bloomberg quotes Barry Lynn, executive director of Open Markets, on rising concentration in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Brandi Collins-Dexter of Color of Change says deleting your Facebook account isn’t enough—the company must be pressured at the top. And right-wing board members “shows you what their intentions really are.”
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PYMNTS reports on how Tech Giants, including Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft, have 19 M&A deals in process in spite of COVID-19’s effect on the economy. “These companies are already extraordinarily powerful, but they’re well-positioned to emerge as the biggest winners of COVID-19 unless some legislative action is taken,” said Sandeep Vaheesan, OMI’s legal director.
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Financial Times’ Miles Kruppa and James Fontanella-Khan report on the increase of mergers and acquisitions among big tech companies and start-up businesses, further consolidating their power in the marketplace. “These companies are already extraordinarily powerful, but they’re well positioned to emerge as the biggest winners of COVID-19 unless some legislative action is taken,” said Sandeep Vaheesan, OMI’s legal director.
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A new bill from Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez strikes at the myths behind mergers.
Forbes’ contributor Rebecca Bellan reports on The American Edge Project, an advocacy group that Facebook helped launch in an effort to frame technological innovators as “an essential part of the U.S. economic health, national security and individual freedoms.”
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HuffPost’s Zach Carter reports on the effort led by the American Economic Liberties Project and nine other organizations, including Open Markets, prompting the Federal Reserve to ban bailout funding for M&A activity.
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