As Congress inches closer to cracking down on Big Tech, Republicans supporting the legislation are pushing back on industry groups trying to derail its passage.
The bipartisan American Innovation and Choice Online Act, which would ban Big Tech companies such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google from using their platforms to boost their own products and services, has drawn criticism from business-friendly corners, including pro-business lobbying groups traditionally aligned with Republicans as well as parts of the conservative media, but top Republicans are arguing the bill is a conservative approach to a thorny problem.
“Competition through antitrust is the conservative solution to the Big Tech problem because it allows the market to work, period,” Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) told the Washington Examiner. “A monopoly over information in a democracy is a monopoly on power, and this bill is a necessary first step to address that issue.”
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Reports on Monday showed the fiscally conservative Taxpayers Protection Alliance was running an ad in media markets across the country attacking AICO as a “radical liberal bill” supported by the likes of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). The ad also claims that the bill would “empower China” and “take away the digital tools that small businesses rely on.”
Tech-aligned interest groups have poured millions of dollars into lobbying efforts and media campaigns against AICO in recent weeks. One group, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, spent $22 million on ads during the week of May 27 alone.
Amazon recently alleged that AICO’s enactment could force the company to curtail many of its popular proprietary offerings, including Amazon Prime and Amazon Basics. And the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the powerful pro-business lobbying group that has lately come under harsh criticism from Republican members, came out against the bill last week, denouncing it as “misguided” and “ripe with unintended consequences.”
Buck, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee and a leading Republican proponent of the legislation, slammed efforts to thwart AICO’s passage and derided efforts to portray opposition to the bill as conservative.
“From trying to use race to derail this legislation, to faking grassroots support of small businesses, to paying front groups to conduct polling, Big Tech lobbyists have consistently tried to create the illusion of support where none exists,” Buck said.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), one of the bill’s primary Republican shepherds in the Senate, also defended the bill, telling the Washington Examiner in a statement that “competition is good for consumers, and our legislation is simply about ensuring that these Big Tech companies have to compete on an even playing field with small and medium-sized businesses.”
Grassley echoed Buck’s assertion that passing AICO is the conservative solution to take on Big Tech and contended that the bill has strong grassroots support, noting that “recent polling shows that 81 percent of likely Republican primary voters support [the bill]. Conservatives are concerned and should continue to be concerned about preserving a competitive free market.”
When contacted about their support for AICO, another Republican sponsor of the bill pointed the Washington Examiner to Amazon’s political engagement disclosures, in which the company revealed having given at least $10,000 to the Taxpayers Protection Alliance in 2020 and 2021.
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The legislation has passed both the House and Senate Judiciary committees in bipartisan votes. Schumer has said he plans to bring AICO up for a Senate vote as soon as there appears to be enough support among senators to avert a filibuster. An aide to Grassley recently told Axios that the Iowa senator is confident that support for the bill will surpass the 60-vote threshold needed to do so.
However, some Senate Democrats are beginning to have reservations about the bill. Top aides to Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Michael Bennet (D-CO), both up for reelection this year, reportedly took issue with Democratic senators being forced to vote on a “controversial” piece of legislation with little potential for political upside ahead of what is expected to be a tough election cycle for Democrats.
