Antitrust enforcement could lie ahead
A Democratic staff report, after 16 months of investigation, calls Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google monopolies that should be broken up or at least compelled to divest some of their businesses. Read story here.
Other staff recommendations include greater antitrust scrutiny of their acquisitions, prohibiting them from giving preference on their platforms to their own services, and mandating data interoperability, among other things.
Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram was singled out for particular criticism. Amazon was accused of anticompetitive practices with respect to its third-party sellers.
Some Republicans signed on to the report, but are leery of strengthening antitrust laws. If Democrats take over the White House and Senate, and eliminate the filibuster, Republicans won’t be able to block new, tougher antitrust legislation. A Democratic attorney general also would be more pro-consumer and would existing enforce antitrust laws more vigorously.
The four companies, along with Microsoft and Netflix, powered the stock market’s stunning rise this year while the economy took its deepest dive since the Great Depression. Investors flocked to these stocks because they’re more immune to the economic impacts of Covid-19.