Washington – critics of the country’s largest technology companies Marked The last few months have been a “Hot Antitrust Summer” because they hoped that Congress would choose new regulations for Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook.
Chances of passing the law before Labor Day have instead evaporated. The Senate is expected to take up one final major business item before the August recess, when it debates and votes on Democrats’ sweeping climate, tax and health care package.
Failing to get a voice is a setback for politicians, activists and regulators who believe Big Tech has too much control over business, communications and culture. After Labor Day, Washington will turn its attention to midterm elections rather than major legislation. And if Republicans gain a majority in Congress, the regulations are much less likely to be passed.
“One of the senators actually said to me, ‘Maybe you’re ahead of your time,'” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat and a key driver of the legislation, said in an interview. “And I said to them: Yes, but your time is early, it does not mean that your time has not come.” And sometimes your time will come.
Supporters of Ms. Klobuchar’s bill, called the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, argue that the national overhaul of antitrust laws would allow small businesses to prosper by strengthening big tech companies. The bill prohibits the companies from prioritizing their own services over those of their competitors. So Amazon, for example, couldn’t feature its own Amazon Basic batteries before it was made by Duracell, and Google had to put its own restaurant reviews on par with sites like Yelp in search results.
Read more on Facebook and Meta
Supporters of the bill cheered in May when Democratic Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer said he would put it up for a vote in early summer. It passed with bipartisan support in the Judiciary Committee, and Ms. Klobuchar and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, her Republican primary co-sponsor, said they have the votes to pass the bill if the full Senate votes.
Tech companies have poured tens of millions of dollars into opposing the bill. Groups funded by the companies have aired ads in swing states saying the law is ill-advised at a time of high inflation. The CEOs of Google, Apple and Amazon have all personally opposed the bill.
The industry has argued that there could be an unintended effect on online speech, as the bill could be interpreted as limiting how much these companies can moderate content, including hateful posts. Supporters of the law say their concerns are unfounded In June, four Democratic senators called for the law to be amended to prevent misinterpretation.
Supporters of the legislation have tried to continue pressuring Mr. Schumer for a vote, highlighting the work his children have done for big tech companies.
Lawmakers argued that if they had to vote on the bill, it would pass. But at a fundraiser last month, Mr. Schumer said he did not believe the measure had 60 votes to defeat a filibuster. And he won’t put it on the ground until he gets a better understanding, said a person familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussion is private. Mr. Schumer’s comments were first reported by Bloomberg.
“What I’m telling you is that Klobuchar was very disappointed when she was led to believe that he was going to step down in this timeframe and he didn’t, and we don’t have a lot of time between now and the election,” Mr. Grassley said in an interview.
Other priorities in the Senate, such as climate, energy and the tax package, have sidelined the antitrust issues between Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, and Mr. Schumer. Before an unexpected compromise on that bill, slow progress on a veterans health care bill, a gun control measure and the Chip Manufacturing Act dominated the legislative calendar.
Some of the bill’s co-sponsors said the bill is a low priority for them as they prepare to leave Capitol Hill for the month. Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii, said she is focused on the legislation being discussed before the August recess.
Ms Klobuchar said she had spoken with Mr Schumer and discussed bringing the legislation up for a vote in the fall.
“I think he’s committed to working on this and getting through this,” she said. There is a similar proposal in the House of Representatives, which has bipartisan support.
A spokesman for Mr. Schumer said in a statement that the majority leader “plans to work with Senator Klobuchar and other supporters to gather the necessary votes and mobilize for the vote.”
Sarah Miller, executive director of the liberal American Economic Freedom Project, said efforts to pass a new antitrust law in Washington would limit the role of agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission. A virtual reality company last month, and state legislators are more involved in Big Tech.
“Fortunately there’s not just one sheriff in town, although I think the ability of Congress to directly promote fairness and competition in digital markets remains an important project,” she said.
