{"id":289,"date":"2026-06-12T10:40:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T10:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=289"},"modified":"2026-06-12T10:40:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T10:40:23","slug":"online-competition-measure-again-draws-industry-opposition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=289","title":{"rendered":"Online competition measure again draws industry opposition"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A bill that would stop large online platforms from discriminating against outside services has been revived in the Senate after versions in recent years died amid strong opposition from the technology industry.<\/p>\n

Read more House vote puts surveillance authority on path to lapse<\/a><\/p>\n

Judiciary Chair Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., introduced the legislation on Wednesday in what they say is an effort to bolster competition in online retail and between app providers.<\/p>\n

Even before the bill\u2019s official announcement, technology groups declared their continued opposition to the effort, which they said would hurt consumers and single out successful businesses.<\/p>\n

In a statement announcing the bill, dubbed the \u201cAmerican Innovation and Choice Online Act,\u201d Grassley said the legislation would \u201cexpand consumer choice\u201d on the internet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn today\u2019s digital age, a handful of dominant companies control what Americans can buy, hear and say online,\u201d Grassley said. \u201cWhen these companies abuse their market power to give themselves a leg up \u2013 whether through censorship, favoritism or discrimination \u2013 American consumers and small businesses pay the price.\u201d<\/p>\n

Klobuchar, who sponsored the legislation in the 117th and 118th Congresses, framed the bill as giving smaller companies a fairer shot at succeeding.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerican prosperity was built on a foundation of open markets and fair competition, but right now our country faces a monopoly problem, and American consumers, workers, and businesses are paying the price,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But tech groups called the bill \u201cdeeply flawed,\u201d \u201cout of step with\u201d consumers\u2019 economic reality and \u201cone of the worst things we could do to support U.S. technology leadership,\u201d and said it \u201cshould be left in the dustbin.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill would prohibit certain large online platforms from giving preference to their own products or services, limiting the ability of another business\u2019 products or services to compete on the platform or applying terms of service against a business in a discriminatory manner in a way that would \u201cmaterially harm competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2022, the Judiciary Committee voted on a bipartisan basis to advance similar legislation. At that time, six Republican senators voted against the bill. Four \u2014\u00a0Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., John Cornyn, R-Texas, Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C. \u2014 still serve on the committee.<\/p>\n

Current Judiciary member Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who chairs the Commerce Committee, also expressed concerns about the bill but voted in support of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2021, the House Judiciary Committee also forwarded similar legislation, with Democrats and Republicans on each side of the 24-20 vote.<\/p>\n

The 2023 bill was not taken up by the Senate Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n

The new bill was endorsed by software companies Mozilla, Proton and Replit, as well as by antitrust organizations. In previous Congresses, consumer groups have supported the legislation as well, arguing it would open markets to give consumers greater choice.<\/p>\n

In April, a group of 16 organizations wrote\u00a0to Judiciary Committee leadership to urge the reintroduction of the bill, which they said would lower prices by restoring \u201ccompetitive pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more College sports bill authors making pitch to Black caucus<\/a><\/p>\n

Changes<\/h2>\n

The latest version would differ in how it defines its scope. It would apply to online platforms controlled by companies with at least $175 billion in average annual gross revenue and monthly active U.S. users that make up at least 34 percent of the U.S. population over the age of 12.<\/p>\n

The 2022 and 2023 versions of the bill would have applied to platforms with at least 50 million monthly-active U.S. users or 100,000 monthly-active U.S. business users and net annual U.S. sales or market capitalization of over $550 billion.<\/p>\n

In a letter\u00a0sent Thursday to Grassley and Judiciary ranking member Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and more than 30 other groups said the bill \u201ctargets a small set of online platforms that meet specific revenue and user thresholds\u2014without requiring any demonstration that they enjoy market power.\u201d<\/p>\n

The groups also argued that existing antitrust cases, including against Google, show that current law can address antitrust problems.<\/p>\n

The bill would also forbid large platforms from tying access to the purchase of their other products and services if they\u2019re not intrinsic to the use of the platform. Additionally, platforms couldn\u2019t use nonpublic data from a business\u2019 activities on the platform to benefit their own competing product. Platforms also couldn\u2019t refuse to share a business\u2019 own activity data with the business.<\/p>\n

The bill would also prohibit platforms from locking users into default settings that direct them toward the platform\u2019s services, unless it\u2019s necessary for certain security reasons; unfairly ranking their services ahead of other businesses in search or a user interface; or retaliating against users or businesses who raise concerns about the platform potentially violating state or federal law.<\/p>\n

Amy Bos, vice president of government affairs for industry group NetChoice, argued that the kind of behaviors targeted by the bill are key to how common technologies work.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the integrated features consumers rely on every day, from digital maps embedded in search results to pre-installed apps, seamless account integration, and built-in, industry leading security protections, could be legally challenged under AICOA,\u201d Bos said in a statement. \u201cThe result is not more innovation, but worse products that are less convenient, less secure and less useful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enforcement of the bill\u2019s provisions would fall to the Federal Trade Commission, the Justice Department and state attorneys general.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tech groups also compared the bill to Europe\u2019s Digital Markets Act, which regulates \u201cgatekeeper\u201d platforms like search engines and app stores.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Josh Withrow, a resident fellow at the center-right R Street Institute, said the bill would \u201charm U.S. tech competitiveness and innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve already seen how similar regulations have worked in the European Union under their Digital Markets Act, with multiple companies forced to delay the rollout of new artificial intelligence tools to European markets,\u201d Withrow said in a statement. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Turning down the lights on US surveillance authorities at a time of peril<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A bill that would stop large online platforms from discriminating against outside services has been revived in the Senate after versions in recent years died amid strong opposition from the technology industry. Judiciary Chair Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. 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