House: Break up Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google

 

Photo: Vox

House Lawmakers Condemn Big Tech’s ‘Monopoly Power’ and Urge Their Breakups

From the study:

To put it simply, companies that once were scrappy, underdog startups that challenged the status quo have become the kinds of monopolies we last saw in the era of oil barons and railroad tycoons. 

Although these firms have delivered clear benefits to society, the dominance of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google has come at a price. These firms typically run the marketplace while also competing in it — a position that enables them to write one set of rules for others, while they play by another, or to engage in a form of their own private quasi-regulation that is unaccountable to anyone but themselves. 

The effects of this significant and durable market power are costly. The Subcommittee's series of hearings produced significant evidence that these firms wield their dominance in ways that erode entrepreneurship, degrade Americans privacy online, and undermine the vibrancy of the free and diverse press. The result is less innovation, fewer choices for consumers, and a weakened democracy...