Senators Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, and Lindsey Graham, a Republican, said Thursday they might push for an ambitious bill to create a latest government regulator empowered to rein in Meta Platforms’ Facebook, Alphabet’s Google, Amazon and other Big Tech platforms.
For several years, bills intended to clip the wings of Big Tech firms have fallen short in Congress at the same time as federal agencies wage legal battles against Google and Facebook over alleged violations of antitrust law.
Along with creating the regulatory commission, the proposed law would tighten antitrust law to forbid the businesses from preferencing their very own products over those of rivals. Amazon, for instance, has been accused of favoring its own brands when consumers conduct searches on Amazon.
It could allow the commission to stop certain acquisitions by the businesses and force asset sales in some circumstances, Warren’s office said in an outline of the proposed measure.
The measure would also guarantee some privacy protections and limit foreign ownership and access to data by foreign adversaries.
Just like the Federal Trade Commission, the brand new Digital Consumer Protection Commission would have five commissioners with a maximum of three from one political party.
“This bipartisan bill would create a latest tech regulator and makes clear that reining in Big Tech platforms is a top priority on either side of the aisle,” said Warren in a press release.
Graham said the creation of the regulatory commission was “step one in a protracted journey to guard American consumers from the huge power these firms currently wield.”
Amazon declined comment while Facebook and Google didn’t reply to a request for comment on the proposal.
