Two senators from the United States have filed bipartisan legislation to make it more difficult for Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and other tech behemoths to make acquisitions.
Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office, which chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust group, announced on Friday that she and Republican Tom Cotton had presented a bill that would target Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google and Facebook (FB.O).
By requiring firms to prove to a judge that the mergers are good for competition and thus legal, the measure would make it simpler for the government to stop deals it feels violate antitrust law.
A similar bill, introduced by Democratic Representative Hakeem Jeffries and others, was approved by the House Judiciary Committee and is now awaiting a vote by the full House.
By requiring firms to prove to a judge that the mergers are good for competition and thus legal, the measure would make it simpler for the government to stop deals it feels violate antitrust law.
Klobuchar filed a bill in October with the help of others that would prohibit Big Tech platforms from favoring their products and services.
Other proposals filed aim to limit the market power of technology companies, particularly industry heavyweights such as Apple (AAPL.O). So yet, none have become legislation, though one, which would expand antitrust enforcement resources, has cleared the Senate.
