House Democrats Declare Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google Monopolies
A sweeping 449-page House report accuses four major tech companies of acting as monopolies and recommends structural separations to curb their power.
A new 449-page report from House Democrats officially declares Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google to be monopolies that require strict regulation. The lawmakers argue that these corporations started as underdog startups but now act as powerful gatekeepers over digital commerce and communications.
To address this concentrated power, the report recommends that Congress overhaul existing antitrust laws and potentially force structural separations of the companies. If enacted, these measures could prevent Amazon from selling its own products on its marketplace and stop Facebook from acquiring future competitors like it did with Instagram and WhatsApp.
Although the initial investigation involves a bipartisan effort from the House Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel, the final report faces partisan division. Democratic majority staff author the document, leaving Republicans to distance themselves from the specific regulatory recommendations proposed in the findings.