Ben Thompson Examines US Big Tech Legislation
As you may have read, lawmakers in the US House of Representatives have proposed a set of bills designed to rein in the power of Big Tech: specifically Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, though Microsoft would also likely be impacted. This is just the beginning, and there’s no guarantee that any of these bills will be signed into law. However, House Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline has done a savvy job of introducing them—all the bills are sponsored by a Democrat and co-sponsored by a Republican, and some could be sacrificed in favor of others during negotiation. Over at Stratechery, Ben Thompson has a thoughtful overview of the bills and which companies stand to be most impacted—Apple is high on the list. It’s too early to do anything but keep an open mind about the situation. Even if you’re not a fan of regulation, these companies have brought this scrutiny on themselves through unabashedly controversial behavior.
I am less concerned with Big Tech’s business practices which, in general, to me at least, seem to provide a consumer benefit, than I am with Big Tech censorship, manipulation of search results, and deplatforming of opposing viewpoints as well as their despicable and ubiquitous privacy violations. These bills are solving the wrong problems and punishing excellence and success.
I see power and control without the excellence. Only allowing lawsuits as a check does not curtail the overwhelming embedding of misinformation, the dishonesty, and harmful surreptitious practices. I glanced over the proposed bills and was quite surprised as to their extent. I see significant flaws but any real solution is likely going to be dramatic. If some of it gets voted into law, it’s likely that it won’t be enough.