Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has come out in support of bipartisan antitrust legislation aimed at holding Big Tech accountable, signaling a growing mainstream interest in the GOP to take on the tech giants.
On Tuesday, McCarthy signed on to Colorado Republican Rep. Ken Buck’s State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act of 2021, which would give state attorneys general more control over where antitrust litigation is conducted.
The move indicates that McCarthy may be opening up to supporting other bipartisan House antitrust legislation that aims to reshape the technology industry, particularly some of the controversial practices of Big Tech companies such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon. More generally, it signifies that tech skepticism has reached a new level of acceptance within the Republican Party, which for decades had championed limited regulations and free market policies.
“Kevin recognizes that Big Tech presents a very serious problem and that we need a multiprong approach to address their dangerous behavior,” said Buck during an interview with the Washington Examiner.
“Antitrust is one of those ways to really solve the problem, or at least to develop part of the solution to the problem,” Buck said.
He added that McCarthy’s support of his bill was “an important first step” in addressing problems caused by Big Tech, such as the censorship of conservatives, anti-competitive behavior, and shady business practices.
Buck’s bill would ensure that state attorneys general who bring antitrust cases in federal court do not face delays or higher costs if they want to transfer their cases away from Northern California, considered a tech-friendly jurisdiction because it is the home of most Big Tech companies.
Under pressure to come up with a conservative approach to holding Big Tech companies accountable, House Republicans, led by McCarthy, announced last July an agenda that would make it easier to break up tech companies in court and challenge unfair censorship.
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said in November that he would create a new investigations subcommittee focused on tackling censorship of conservatives on Big Tech platforms if the GOP takes back the House in 2022.
The Republican agenda is meant to provide an alternative to the six bipartisan anti-Big Tech bills championed by Buck and others in the House Judiciary Committee that many Republicans, including McCarthy, currently oppose because, they claim, the bills don’t address the censorship of conservatives.
However, McCarthy’s new support of Buck’s bill, along with the conservative House Freedom Caucus also throwing their weight behind the bill last week, suggest that House Republicans may be shifting their stance toward the bipartisan antitrust bills.
The Republican Party’s anti-corporate evolution has come about due to monopolistic behavior by Big Tech and their muzzling of conservative voices online, starting with former President Donald Trump.
Whether it’s driving bipartisan legislation in Congress focused on the antitrust and data privacy issues of the tech giants or partisan bills at the state level scrutinizing social media companies’ censorship of conservatives, the GOP has taken unprecedented aim at the tech companies in the past few years.
Buck said that his bill would enable state attorneys general to better enforce antitrust laws across the country, particularly in regards to the Big Tech companies, and that this will result in consumers receiving better quality products and services for a lower price.
He added that McCarthy and other Republicans also recognize the growing threat of Big Tech companies in regards to monopolistic behavior and unfair content moderation standards.
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“Kevin is from California, where the tech companies are, but he has a larger role as the leader of the Republican Party in the House, and he sees beyond his parochial interests to what is important for Republicans to lead on,” said Buck.
