Posted on 10/07/2021 6:04:18 PM PDT by EBH
4. BREAK UP BIG TECH Google, Facebook, and Amazon pose such a fundamental threat to American democracy that the only rational solution is to break them up.
These companies command markets to a degree that makes agribusiness and airline giants seem meek by comparison. Google controls 92 percent of internet searches. Last year, Google and Facebook attracted an estimated 84 percent of global spending on digital advertising, excluding China. Amazon owns over 70 percent of the market for e-books and, through the spread of Alexa, 71 percent of the in-home voice market.
One reason these pervasive digital platforms constitute an existential danger is that they control the fates of so many other businesses. Retailers and manufacturers at once compete with Amazon and depend on it to reach the market. Media companies are beholden to the algorithms of Facebook and Google. Google has used its control of search to privilege its own travel and shopping services, while marginalizing those of rivals. In 2013, Facebook bought a tiny start-up, Onavo, and used its technology to spy on smartphone users as a way to detect popular new apps early and then either buy them or copy their functionality.
A second reason these firms have become dangerous is that they control the flow of ideas and information—an arrangement no democracy can tolerate. They mediate our interactions, and they decide which sites show up when we search; which news stories, real and fake, we encounter in our feeds; and which books we run across. Surveillance is a central strategy of all three of these tech monopolies. And they all use the extensive data they’ve gathered about us to hinder upstart competitors, keep us tuned into their services, and otherwise sustain their dominant positions.
What would breaking up these companies look like? It would essentially mean removing the conflicts of interest at the heart of these digital giants by compelling them to spin off their platforms, which provide market access for other firms, from the other parts of their business that compete with those same firms.
That process would likely begin with an antitrust investigation. Last November, Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, a Republican, launched an antitrust investigation of Google. His office is looking at, among other things, whether Google manipulates search results to favor its own products over those of its competitors, in violation of the state’s antitrust laws. It would be a promising development if other state attorneys general, who have broad authority to protect their citizens from monopolies, did the same. Many of the nation’s most pivotal antitrust cases, including those that led to the break-up of Standard Oil and the almost-break-up of Microsoft, were first initiated by state investigations and later taken up by federal antitrust enforcers.
The biggest monopoly is the Federal government.
bookmark
Didn’t read this (yet) but kind of astonishing to see The Nation here on FR.
Then again, it was the World Socialist who first debunked the 1619 project, so who knows?
We live in strange and perilous times.
LET’S GO BRANDON!!!!
Notice the date of the article...2018.
Both sides of the aisle recognize the danger of these tech giants, you would think we could come together on this point.
It’s probably too late to do anything about these monopolies. Look at all that we’ve lost.
Our rights to freedom of speech.
Our rights to a free election.
Our rights to privacy.
We may as well just learn to speak Mandarin. At least will have a talent when the Great Reset takes effect
You’d think the Republicans could seize and pounce on this. And on the complete failure of the unionized public school system, which has now declared actual war on America’s parents.
But they don’t call them the STUPID party for nothing!
They’re not monopolies.
Anyone is free to use other services.
These are wildly successful, yes.
They succeed because they satisfy customers.
I’ve seen many such “monopolies” disappear almost overnight when enough people discovered the alternatives.
Yeah I did a double take when I saw this.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.