A coalition of left and right groups skeptical of big tech are pushing for the Senate Judiciary Committee to advance legislation that would push back against large platforms that push their own products against third-party sellers.
The coalition of groups urged the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-IL) to advance the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA), legislation that the two lawmakers have long backed.
“We respectfully urge the Committee to reintroduce AICOA and move it to markup without delay,” the 17 groups wrote to Grassley and Durbin. “Pro-competitive reforms that lower costs for consumers and protect small businesses should not be a partisan issue.”
The legislation seeks to combat self-preferencing, which often occurs when platform and sellers such as Amazon position their own broads or Apple installing its apps as defaults.
The coalition, which features organizations such as the Digital Progress Institute, American Principles Project, and Demand Progress, said that the legislation would address “one of the most significant remaining gaps” in antitrust enforcement:
In recent years, we have seen strong bipartisan support at the antitrust agencies and on the relevant committees of Congress — across administrations — for addressing competition problems that drive up costs, including in prescription drugs and pharmacy benefit management, healthcare consolidation, and grocery markets. AICOA directly addresses one of the most significant remaining gaps: the ability of dominant technology platforms to impose fees and pricing restrictions that raise costs not just on their own marketplaces, but across the entire economy.
The coalition said in its letter that AICOA advanced through the committee during the 117th Congress on a 16-6 bipartisan vote and that more than 100 advocacy organizations, trade associations, and technology companies have backed the legislation.
They wrote, “The core problems it was designed to solve — gatekeeper abuse, suppressed competition, and inflated consumer costs — have only grown worse since the bill was first introduced. Today, with affordability at the top of voters’ concerns, the
case for action is stronger than ever.”
Evan Swartztrauber, a senior fellow at the Digital Progress Institute, wrote on X, “Policymakers are focused on making life more affordable for Americans. AICOA targets certain self-preferencing and discriminatory practices by dominant online players that drive up costs.”
In 2021, Grassley wrote in an op-ed that the AICOA bill would boost small businesses on big tech platforms.
He wrote, “Our laws have not changed to keep up with the growing and evolving online ecosystem. This legislation will make sure all businesses can compete on an even and fair playing field online.”
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