Google and Amazon are now under scrutiny by Washington for their anti-competitive practices which limit choice and lower quality online. They have taken to a national security defense and claimed that breaking up the US will only benefit China.
It’s an ironic move. These tech giants have extensive, well-documented ties to Beijing, doing high-volume business in China’s marketplace, while capitulating to the whims of its government for fear of losing access and status.
Their arguments are an insult of American ingenuity. It is not about condoning a chokepoint five global corporations, who have become ever more complacent as they grow in market power.
Innovation comes from all directions, not just a few gatekeepers that prevent new ideas and services being brought to market. These tech companies can be a major barrier to entry for companies who may have the most important technology concepts to solve our biggest problems.
A number of bipartisan proposals are being considered by Congress to prevent dominant platforms like Amazon and Microsoft, Apple, Microsoft, Microsoft, and Google favoring their own products and services at the expense of small businesses, innovators, consumers, and other stakeholders.
Five Republicans voted along with Democrats in the bipartisan effort to move legislation out the committee. This reflects the bipartisan momentum for reining tech inside the Beltway as well as across the country.
Gallup found that 57% Americans believe the government should raise regulation of Big Tech. A Vox poll revealed that 65% of Americans think it is a problem facing America’s economy.
To be clear, the legislative efforts are not about punishing the Big Five because they’re big. They’re about addressing harmful behavior that allows them to keep their thumb on the scales to further monopoly status.
Big Tech can argue that these initiatives could jeopardize U.S. leadership over China and compromise user data all it wants, but that’s nonsense. Clear national security provisions are being considered to stop data transfer to businesses associated with the government of China and other foreign adversaries.
We must not forget that Big Tech platforms are among the most egregious violators of privacy rights and data security in history. Facebook paid a $5 billion fine for using deceptive practices and sharing its users’ personal information without permission with third-party apps. Google was fined for violating children’s privacy laws, and has been accused of secretly tracking users.
Moreover, Big Tech relies heavily on exploiting China’s cheap labor and production. Apple, in particular, benefits from cheap labor to produce its products. It stores troves Chinese consumer data on servers owned state-owned companies and censors apps in its App Store to satisfy Chinese government demands.
Apple even brokered a $275 billion deal to help develop China’s economic and technological abilities, but has refused to assist U.S. law enforcement in criminal cases at home.
Similarly, Amazon relies on Chinese forced labor for production of many of its products, censors reviews and ratings to appease the Chinese Communist Party, and has even teamed up with firms that provide surveillance technology to the Chinese government’s concentration camps.
Google did everything in its power to produce a censored Google search engine in order to comply to the strict speech bans imposed by China’s Communist Party. While promoting internet freedom, Google also bent over backwards to do this.
Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Microsoft, and Apple are all giant tech companies that have been able to serve as ambassadors for American principles overseas for years. They’ve often done exactly the opposite, violating basic tenets of consumer privacy and security and helping a regime whose view on human rights runs directly counter to U.S. ideals and to directly assist their military with things like artificial intelligence development.
To avoid being held accountable, policymakers should ignore the fake fearmongering Big Tech is pushing on national security. Next time they are told that antitrust begets China’s dominance, they would be wise to consider the messenger.
Originally published by TwinCities.com
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