FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Virgil McDill, vmcdill@ilsr.org, 202.294.9187
Statement from Institute for Local Self-Reliance on Antitrust Legislation Unveiled in the U.S. Senate Today
WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 14, 2021) – The following statement was issued by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, in response to legislation released today in the United States Senate aimed at addressing the concentrated corporate power of the Big Tech companies.
“This bill is welcome proof that the momentum in Congress to tackle Big Tech’s monopoly power is rapidly gaining force on both sides of the aisle. We thank Senator Klobuchar for her outspoken leadership on antitrust issues and her work to make this a truly bipartisan effort with Senator Grassley. We agree with their view that the tech giants cannot continue to abuse their power at the expense of competition, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
“America’s independent businesses and entrepreneurs cannot succeed in a world where the tech giants are allowed to remain all-powerful gatekeepers. Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google routinely preference their own products, block rivals from accessing markets, and impose onerous fees and terms on smaller businesses. The status quo in our digital markets is untenable.
“This bill prohibits some of the tech monopolies’ most abusive behavior, and we are eager to work with the Committee to strengthen the bill and ensure the Senate adopts structural separation legislation, along the lines that passed in the House Judiciary Committee, to tackle the root source of Big Tech’s monopoly power over independent sellers, app developers, and other firms.”
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About the Institute for Local Self-Reliance
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) is a national nonprofit research and educational organization founded in 1974. ILSR has a vision of thriving, diverse, equitable communities. To reach this vision, we build local power to fight corporate control. We believe that democracy can only thrive when economic and political power is widely dispersed. Whether it’s fighting back against the outsize power of monopolies like Amazon or advocating to keep local renewable energy in the community that produced it, ILSR advocates for solutions that harness the power of citizens and communities. More at ilsr.org
