Earlier this month, I joined with Senator
Klobuchar and ten Senate colleagues to introduce the American Innovation and Choice
Online Act. This bill has garnered support from all
sides of the political spectrum and is a commonsense measure to increase
competition on dominant digital platforms.
Today, there are only a handful of
dominant companies that control what Americans can buy, hear and say online.
Big Tech has power over the economy that we haven’t seen in generations,
perhaps ever. And it grows even larger, taking over yet more of our daily
lives. With this power, Big Tech is able to pick winners and losers on their
platforms.
The goal of the American Innovation and Choice Online Act is to ensure that Big
Tech can be held accountable when they engage in a discriminatory and
anticompetitive manner. This legislation sets clear rules for businesses on
dominant platforms. This will help to promote competition by targeting harmful
conduct while ensuring that innovative and pro-consumer conduct is protected.
I want to be clear, the Big Tech platforms
offer great products to their consumers. This isn’t about breaking up companies
or penalizing them for being successful. This is about ensuring that small
businesses have a fair and even playing field when utilizing a dominant online
platform.
I also want to address many of the
falsehoods that have been spread by opponents of this legislation. Nothing in
this bill will require a company to shut down their marketplace or prevent them
from selling their own branded products. Nothing prevents a search company from
showing maps or answer boxes in their search results. And cellular phones can
be sold with preinstalled apps. This bill simply sets clear, effective rules to
protect competition and users doing business on dominant online platforms.
I’m a strong believer in the free market.
The United States is still the greatest country in the world for starting and
growing a business. But Big Tech is making it more difficult for small
businesses to realize success on these dominant platforms. Congress must update
our laws to keep up with the growing and evolving online ecosystem.
Big Tech has the power to determine what
we can buy, see, and say online. Big Tech has the power to destroy companies
small and large by denying them access to consumers and even the internet
itself. It is time that we ensure there is effective antitrust enforcement so
the American people can take the power back from these Big Tech giants.
I want to again thank Senator Klobuchar
for her work with me on this legislation. I also want to thank all of my
colleagues from both sides of the aisle who have joined me in cosponsoring this
legislation. Congressmen Cicilline and Buck introduced a companion bill earlier
this year which has already been marked up and passed out of the House
Judiciary Committee. The American
Innovation and Choice Online Act is a bipartisan, bicameral bill and I hope that we can move it
forward and bring real, positive change to all Americans.
