Large Tech Corporations Spends Millions Of Dollars To Oppose Antitrust Legislation That Would Prohibit Dominant Platforms From Favoring Their Own Goods and Services

June 09, 2022 at 12:50 PM EDT

At least $36.4 million has been spent by large tech corporations to oppose antitrust legislation that would prohibit dominant platforms from favoring their own goods and services.

A Journal review of data from AdImpact, an ad monitoring firm, found that parties favoring antitrust reform had spent $193,000 in contrast.

To be ready for a likely floor vote on this bipartisan legislation this summer, the IT sector has already spent $13.7 million, or almost 40% of its total budget since May 1.

Stronger antitrust regulations are the source of the internet industry’s latest ad campaign, which is one of the largest in recent years.

CCIA president Matt Schruers believes it’s one of their most important initiatives in recent years since it’s one of the most extreme policy ideas to control a major part of the US economy. CCIA has spent more than $23 million on this campaign.

Advertising money went exclusively to “the association,” which did not indicate whose corporations were financing it. Google, Amazon, Apple, and Meta Platforms Inc.’s (NASDAQ: FB) Facebook are all members of the CCIA.

By limiting access to mobile payment technologies, Apple misused its position of power and hampered innovation, EU Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said Monday. Pictures taken by AFP photographer Kenzo Tribouillard

Advertisements for the CCIA have featured references to Amazon, Google, and “your phone.”

Amazon, Google, Apple’s App Store, and Facebook are among the major digital sites targeted by the measure.

For months, those firms have been putting together teams of lobbyists and senior executives in Washington to try to thwart or change the law. A total of $36.4 million has been spent by anti-legislation organizations since January 1, 2021.

The CCIA is one of Google’s 2021 memberships that it has made public. Also, Amazon has revealed that in 2021, it paid the CCIA a total of at least $10,000.

Quite a few of the commercials are airing in the states and districts in which the legislators are elected to office. Voters are being steered into believing that loosening antitrust regulations will increase inflation, harm the United States’ competitive advantage over China, or harm consumers and small companies by disrupting popular internet services like Amazon Prime or Google Maps.

Grassley and Klobuchar convened a news conference on Wednesday to denounce the effort, which they claim is misrepresenting the bill’s implications.

“We’re dealing with these major digital giants spending tens of millions of dollars on commercials and also on front organizations to disseminate misinformation against our measure,” Grassley added. It is clear that they are striving to get more authority in order to preserve the status quo.

Securing a majority isn’t an issue, according to Ms. Klobuchar. According to her, “We’ve got momentum despite all of the money being spent against us.”

Even though several backers of the law acknowledged at the time that they intended to make amendments, it cleared a Senate committee this year.

It “targets a limited number of particular firms, most of which are based in my home state,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) remarked at the time.

Platforms’ proponents claim they have unrestrained power over other firms because of their monopoly on the internet. According to them, limiting the behavior of the platforms would have a substantial positive impact.

The Justice Department, under Biden’s leadership, approved the legislation as well.

It’s not fair for e-marketplaces, search engines, and app shops like Amazon, Google, and Apple to lose out on their own advances because of the law, the companies argue.

As of yet, Meta Platforms has not issued a statement on the Senate bill, and a spokesperson refused to comment.

According to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, no date has been set for a vote on the bill (D-NY). An individual familiar with the interaction says Schumer recently notified Ms. Klobuchar and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D., Illinois) that he intends to bring it up for a vote on the Senate floor as soon as possible in the coming months.

Industry trade associations like the CCIA and the Consumer Technology Association, as well as more conservative organizations like the Taxpayers Protection Alliance and NetChoice, have split the advertising campaign budget nearly in half.

An ad from CCIA warned that lawmakers in Washington may pass legislation that would end Amazon’s free two-day shipping promise and jeopardize the fragile economic recovery. It is imperative that you tell your senators that you will not break our Prime.

The CCIA claims that its antitrust enforcement campaign has already eroded popular support for it.

Small enterprises and national security appear in a number of other industry-backed advertising.

“The extreme liberal bill of the left would take away the digital tools that small companies depend on, enable China to defeat America in the fight for new technology, and raise the danger of cyberattacks. It’s hard to understand why Senate conservatives would vote for this measure, according to an ad from the Taxpayers Protection Alliance.

Conservatives, who normally favor toughening antitrust rules but have often claimed that large digital platforms restrict conservative viewpoints, are aiming to strengthen Republican opposition to the package.

Taxpayers Protection Alliance Executive Director Patrick Hedger said “conservative politicians and organizations supporting this legislation owing to understandably legitimate complaints about select internet giants are committing an enormous mistake.” In the previous six weeks, it has aired the majority of its $7.4 million in overall advertising.

According to a source with direct knowledge of the situation, business allies have set their sights on Texas.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz “is currently evaluating the measure, since he continues to be worried about anti-competitive actions by several major internet corporations targeting American customers, including in many cases conservatives,” Cruz’s spokeswoman stated.

Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the state’s other senator, opposes the bill, citing the possible national security ramifications.

President Trump remarked earlier this year that “the last thing we should be doing is diminishing America’s capacity to compete in a global market” before a congressional hearing.

Proponents of the legislation claim that the ideas will increase economic competitiveness without stopping platforms from delivering popular services.

Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, a Democrat, hasn’t taken a public stance on the measure, but the commercials are also airing in her home state.

According to a spokesman, Ms. Hassan is now evaluating the legislation and “has a solid record of standing up to some of the worst practices of Big Tech.”

According to the executive director of the Tech Oversight Project, which has launched commercials supporting the legislation, “large tech lobby organizations are trying to prevent that from occurring because they know that if these measures got to the floor for a vote, they would pass,” Sacha Haworth said.

Chris Hughes, the wealthy former Facebook executive, is a major backer of the Economic Security Project, which provides some of the group’s money.

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