Cotton Working With Klobuchar on Antitrust Legislation
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is working with Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., on antitrust legislation, his office told us Monday. They are exploring a bill that could potentially shift the burden of proof from the government to the private sector, forcing companies to prove acquisitions don’t harm competition, said a former antitrust official. The official said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is also involved in discussions and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is reviewing. “We’re not at a stage where things are concrete enough to accurately share” information, said an aide for Cotton.
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The measure could potentially mirror bipartisan legislation introduced by House Judiciary Committee members (see 2106110070), the official said. Klobuchar backed shifting the burden of proof when she introduced her antitrust package in February. She and Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, introduced legislation earlier this month mirroring a House bill on self-preferencing (see 2110200060). She told us in June she wanted to pursue multiple bills related to the House Judiciary Committee’s effort (see 2106250062). Offices for Hawley, Cruz, Klobuchar, Grassley and other Judiciary members didn’t comment now.
Antitrust views are shifting, House Antitrust Subcommittee ranking member Ken Buck, R-Colo., told us Friday. “These are Democrat bills,” he said: “We have a lot of Republicans that are thinking through this.” He cited some “good ideas” in the Senate version of his bill from Klobuchar and Grassley. None of the proposals has support from Senate Antitrust Subcommittee ranking member Mike Lee, R-Utah, but “we’re getting closer to reaching a point where there’s going to be pressure” on the House to get the bills to the floor, said Buck (see 2109280067).
Buck cited concerns about tech platform algorithms, which will be an area of focus Tuesday when YouTube, TikTok and Snap testify at a Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee hearing (see 2110200028). “If platforms are using an algorithm to block nonviolent, nonthreatening speech, then it should be no different than if a platform removes that kind of speech. Shouldn’t it?” he said. “It’s all censorship, right? Some of it is censorship based on imminent harm. Some of it is censorship based on if it leans more toward political speech.”
House Commerce Committee Democrats pushed to hold platforms liable when they “knowingly or recklessly” use an algorithm to recommend content that “materially contributes to physical or severe emotional injury” (see 2110140065). House Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., told us Friday he’s open to exposing platforms to liability on child safety, though Republicans have their own legislative language. “I’m going to work with [Democrats] on these issues, and we have to be open-minded,” he said, noting the two sides haven’t had discussions: “We have to do something because this is a real issue with addiction and depression, and they’re monetizing our children.”
“I haven’t had a chance to sit down and really go through all of what the Democrats have in that [bill],” said House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Bob Latta, R-Ohio. “But Congress needs to make sure bad actors are held accountable. ... It’s something we need to work together on.”
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation is helping Senate Consumer Protection members tee up questions for YouTube, TikTok and Snap, said Legal Counsel Pansy Watson. NCOSE would like platforms to adhere to specific policy changes that would strengthen protections for children. There needs to be more oversight about how companies run their businesses, said Watson: “Across the board, kids are being exposed to highly inappropriate content. Kids are being easily accessed by predators, and marketers are targeting these kids with inappropriate ads.” It’s a “valid point” that platforms should take more responsibility for algorithms that are designed to identify and target kids, she said.