Klobuchar to Propose Anti-Monopoly Bill to Tame Tech Giants

(Bloomberg) -- Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, who is expected to lead a Senate subcommittee on antitrust law, plans to introduce a bill to limit corporate monopoly power with a focus on technology firms.

The bill, which could come within weeks, would place limits on the ability of giant corporations to gobble up smaller competitors, especially so-called “maverick” firms that offer better products and services to consumers, a spokeswoman said.

The New York Times reported earlier on Klobuchar’s plan to introduce a bill targeting monopoly power.

The new measure expands on a previous antitrust bill introduced by Klobuchar designed to bring “major reforms to merger and anticompetitive conduct enforcement,” which included measures to boost antitrust enforcers’ budgets. She has also said she plans to bring back other tech accountability bills, including one to regulate online political ads.

Also on Tuesday, Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, circulated a memo to her GOP colleagues urging them to work on tech accountability, potentially alongside Democrats, even as she criticized companies such as Twitter Inc. for suspending former President Donald Trump. She raised concerns that such actions could lead to tech companies silencing individuals “for having unpopular opinions.”

The topics that McMorris Rodgers outlined could include “exploring competition issues so innovation is unleashed, not quashed” and reform to the liability shield that protects tech companies from lawsuits over user content.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.