The House Judiciary Committee advanced five antitrust bills targeting the biggest tech companies in the country during a markup that stretched into the early hours Thursday morning.
Although the bills had bipartisan support, they also drew criticism from Democrats and Republicans ,highlighting the uphill battle they’ll face as they head to a full floor vote.
Before adjourning Thursday morning, the committee voted to advance one of the most controversial measures, which would aim aimsto prohibit dominant platforms from self-preferencing their own products and services.
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The committee also voted to advance a bill that would prohibit tech giants from acquiring competitors.
The proposal comes as Facebook is facing a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorney general nationwide on its acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram, which the social media platform has defended against allegations of anticompetitiveness.
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After contentious debate over a proposal aimed at requiring interoperability and data portability requirements, the bill known as the ACCESS Act, advanced.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle took aim at the bill’s scope, which many Republicans argued could keep Microsoft out of its requirements. California Democrats Zoe LofgrenZoe Ellen LofgrenTech antitrust bills create strange bedfellows in House markup Pelosi floats Democrat-led investigation of Jan. 6 as commission alternative Democrats plot next move after GOP sinks Jan. 6 probe MORE and Eric SwalwellEric Michael SwalwellTech antitrust bills create strange bedfellows in House markup Democratic lawmakers not initially targeted in Trump DOJ leak probe: report Mo Brooks accuses Swalwell attorney who served papers on his wife of trespassing MORE voiced concerns over user data and security.
Antitrust Subcommittee Chair David CicillineDavid CicillineTech antitrust bills create strange bedfellows in House markup America’s drug rebate system is broken Tech industry pushes for delay in antitrust legislation MORE (D-R.I.) and Rep. Matt GaetzMatthew (Matt) GaetzOvernight Defense: Joint Chiefs chairman clashes with GOP on critical race theory | House bill introduced to overhaul military justice system as sexual assault reform builds momentum Tech antitrust bills create strange bedfellows in House markup Joint Chiefs chairman clashes with GOP on race theory, ‘white rage’ MORE (R-Fla.) both strongly pushed back on lawmakers arguing the proposal was being pushed forward too quickly — noting the 16-month investigation from the subcommittee last year into the companies’ market power.
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Rep. Pramila JayapalPramila JayapalEnergized Trump probes pose problems for Biden Democrats fear they are running out of time on Biden agenda Garland: Review of Trump-era politicization should fall to DOJ watchdog MORE (D-Wash.), who serves a district she said is full with Amazon and Microsoft employees, also argued that the definition of a covered platform in the bills would not leave Microsoft out.
Cicilline said the determination of which platforms would be covered would be up to the enforcement agencies.
The least contentious of the bills, one ensuring state attorneys general are able to remain in the court they select and one that would update filing fees for mergers, passed earlier in the day.
The meeting, which began Wednesday at 10 a.m, was adjourned early Thursday morning and the committee is slated to return at 11 a.m. for members to markup the remaining bill in the agenda.
Those measures are also highly controversial and have drawn a fierce push back from tech companies, as they could make it easier for enforcement agencies to break-up tech giants.