A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a handful of antitrust measures on Friday, including one designed to potentially break up large tech companies operating businesses with conflicts of interest.
Among the package of five bills was a proposal dubbed the Ending Platform Monopolies Act that would potentially force large companies to split up or spin off businesses that present a conflict of interest. The measure would prohibit online platforms from owning businesses that incentivized the platform to favor their own products over others offered on their platforms.
Lawmakers have taken issue with Amazon, for example, for selling its own branded products on its website, engendering questions over whether it fairly markets competitor products.
The bill is sponsored by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., whose district includes Amazon’s Seattle headquarters.
Another bill in the package would prevent companies from exercising self-preference of their own products on their platform, while a third would increase scrutiny over mergers.
Lawmakers also proposed increasing filing fees paid to antitrust agencies for merger reviews and allowing users to transfer information between major platforms.
The proposals, in general, are believed to be aimed at Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, affecting companies only with a $600 billion market value and 500,000 or more monthly active users.
