Making Markets Work for More Than Big Tech

"Your editorial "Breaking Big Tech Bad" (WSJ, June 6) critiques our pending legislation, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, suggesting that we are "posing as defenders of small business." If that's how we look, it's because that's where we're aiming.

Our legislation restores competition to a broken market in which small- and medium-size businesses are at the mercy of Big Tech platforms to reach customers.

Ample evidence illustrates how Big Tech has engaged in anticompetitive behavior that has hurt businesses and consumers. If current law were enough to deal with the monopolistic behavior, there would have been straightforward judgments from the courts and penalties from regulators to curtail the behavior.

Invoking the histories of once-dominant companies like General Motors, Xerox and IBM to dismiss concerns about today's giants is tempting but tenuous. Big Tech's gatekeeper position is fundamentally different from that of prior market heavyweights. Today's dominant online platforms can abuse their power to snuff out competition from small businesses in ways those companies could not in the past.

Our legislation states unambiguously that dominant platforms may not preference or discriminate in a manner that would materially harm competition. Also unambiguous is that companies can avoid liability if they can show that their actions are necessary for cybersecurity, user privacy, data security, core user experience or compliance with the law.

When companies must compete for customers, and consumers have the freedom to choose among a variety of products or services, everyone has a chance for success. This classically free-market and traditionally American economic setup also pushes companies to innovate to get a leg up.

As the editorial notes, a potential economic recession looms and we're all paying the price for inflation. Small businesses and consumers suffer most under these circumstances, so it's imperative that we ensure the marketplace works for all participants, not just the Big Tech gatekeepers.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa)

Rep. Ken Buck (R., Colo.)” [1]

1.  Making Markets Work for More Than Big Tech
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 22 June 2022: A.16.