Reboot Antitrust to Rein in Big Tech: Klobuchar

part create an FTC division to do market studies and merger retrospectives. Competition law violations would be subject to DOJ and FTC fines of up to 15% of a company’s annual revenue, instead of capped at $100 million (see 2102040053). Facebook, Google and other major tech companies have long “said ‘just trust us,’” but “experience has shown that we can't rely on these companies to protect our personal data, or prevent the spread of toxic disinformation, or even to compete fairly in the marketplace,” Klobuchar told a virtual FCBA event. “The only thing we can trust is that” these companies “will act in their own interest. A few giant companies in the tech area act as gatekeepers and dominate markets, exclude their rivals and gobble up other companies. This is not by chance or coincidence, this is a strategy.” If the sector were “more competitive, we would have companies competing to offer consumers new bells and whistles to protect privacy, to increase transparency or to prevent the spread of toxic disinformation,” she said. Big Tech’s “grip on the market suppresses” potential “would-be competitors.” Lawmakers need to address the situation by “rebooting the antitrust movement in the,” Klobuchar said. “We don't get rid of the companies, but we shed” the monopoly “that surrounds them. And that may mean divesting assets, that may mean putting conditions that are actually enforceable." The Internet Association didn't comment right away.