Today, Democratic presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) announced a proposal to promote competition by making “big, structural changes to the tech sector — including breaking up Amazon, Facebook, and Google.” Public Knowledge commends Sen. Warren for showing a serious commitment to addressing the competition concerns we see in digital platforms, and her recognition that structural regulation is crucial to promoting competition, innovation, and economic freedom on the internet.
The following can be attributed to Charlotte Slaiman, Competition Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge:
“While digital platforms like Amazon, Google, and Facebook have allowed some businesses to flourish, this has granted them significant power over how other companies do business. We’re very concerned about situations where a company has free reign to control the playing field on which they compete. This can give platforms the incentive and ability to discriminate in favor of their own products and services, making it harder for small businesses to thrive, diminishing consumer choice, and potentially increasing prices.
“As Public Knowledge has repeatedly argued, the time has come to engage in a serious debate about sector-specific regulation of digital platforms. We need legislation specifically targeted to enhance competition on digital platforms so that there is a real opportunity for new, innovative competitors to succeed. We should proactively promote competition through prohibitions on discrimination, interoperability requirements, and, in some cases, structural separation like Sen. Warren’s plan may be warranted.
“We applaud Sen. Warren’s bold effort to address this problem. We look forward to continuing the conversation and encourage other candidates to offer ideas on how best to promote competition in and among digital platforms.”
You may view the announcement for more details.
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