The Congress may have missed its chance to break up big tech

Congress will go into August recess without Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has not submitted a bipartisan antitrust legislation targeting large U.S. technology companies to a vote. This led some to wonder if it would ever be made law.

While Schumer repeatedly stated that he would bring the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICO Act) to a vote in Congress, he has not yet given a date. Time . According to the , opposition senators and tech companies see Schumer’s inability to vote as an indication that he does not have the votes to pass the bill. (RELATED: Google Offers To Break Up To Prevent Antitrust Lawsuit)

“This would be the most dramatic change to antitrust rules in more than 50 years and would steer antitrust regulation to be more political – promoting favored firms rather than promoting competition,” said Matt Schruers, president of the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), a lobbying organization that represents Amazon, Google parent Alphabet, Apple and Facebook parent Meta, in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. According to the WSJ, Schruers stated that the bill was not ready for prime-time.

Advocates differ with David Cicilline, a Democratic Representative from Rhode Island, who stated to Time that “It’s time that the majority leader brings back our bipartisan antitrust legislation cracking down upon Big Tech’s anticompetitive behaviour.” In a statement, Chuck Grassley, a Republican Senator from Iowa, said that co-sponsor. According to the WSJ,

AICO would prohibit tech companies from allowing search engines to offer their products benefits. This could include preventing competitors from being able to see theirs or making it harder for them to reach customers on their platforms.

Instead asking big government to breakup big tech, conservatives and libertarians should support competitors like @rumblevideo! https://t.co/enMuy6j932

— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 7, 2021

“I may be angry with YouTube for its policies that silence debate, but I would not allow my anger to support the use of antitrust to destroy the system that made YouTube possible,” said Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky in an op-ed opposing the bill. The bill would not only stop YouTube from monopolizing the market, but also prevent competitors from becoming

. Both proponents as well as opponents believe the chances of the bill being passed will decrease if Republicans take control of Congress in November. According to the WSJ, California Democrats who are representatives of tech-company headquarters have expressed concern about the bill’s targeted nature.

Schumer initially promised to vote on the legislation over the summer, if there were sufficient votes, but at least a dozen critical votes were still not guaranteed by August, according to The Verge.

Paul didn’t immediately reply to the DCNF.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation can be accessed free of charge to all news publishers that are eligible and have a large readership. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

Read More