U.S. Congress Opens Bipartisan Probe of Competition in Tech Industry

The House Judiciary Committee of the U.S. Congress is joining the rush to investigate big technology companies, according to Bloomberg. They will focus on whether increased concentration in the industry is crowding out competition and hurting consumers.

Congress’s investigation will address three issues, according to a committee statement. The hearings, led by the Antitrust Subcommittee, will focus on competition in digital markets, anti-competitive conduct of “dominant firms,“ and whether current laws and enforcement policies are adequate.

“There is growing evidence that a handful of gatekeepers have come to capture control over key arteries of online commerce, content, and communications,“ Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York, the Democratic chairman of the committee said in a statement. “Given the growing tide of concentration and consolidation across our economy, it is vital that we investigate the current state of competition in digital markets and the health of the antitrust laws.

The move comes as the U.S. government sets the stage for formal inquiries and escalated pressure on the companies amid increasing criticism that their practices are harming competition in digital markets. After years of a light regulatory touch for the industry, enforcers are on the verge of opening broad investigations that could yield significant changes to how the companies do business.

In addition to the congressional hearings, the Federal Trade Commission will take responsibility for antitrust probes of Facebook and Amazon, while the Justice Department is set to open an investigation of Google, according to people familiar with the matter. The Justice Department will also oversee scrutiny of Apple, Reuters reported.

David Cicilline, the Rhode Island Democrat who chairs the Antitrust Subcommittee, previously called for the FTC to add a competition probe to its privacy investigation of Facebook, and his panel has held hearings on the proposed merger of Sprint and T-Mobile. “There’s been tremendous concentration in these digital market places that are resulting in anti-competitive behavior, serious breaches of privacy, consumers not having control of their own data,“ Cicilline said. “This is the first time there’s been an investigation of this magnitude in decades and frankly, it’s long overdue.“