Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are four of the biggest technology companies in the world. They control unprecedented amounts of modern American’s lives and a House panel has recently declared that they exercise monopoly power.

This declaration comes at the end of a 16-month investigation into the four companies which has culminated into a 449-page document, which details the actions that the Congressional Committee believes constitutes as anti-competitive and proposes anti-trust legislation to resolve the larger problems. 

The report stated, “These firms have too much power, and that power must be reined in and subject to appropriate oversight and enforcement. Our economy and democracy are at stake.”

According to The New York Times, Google was already under investigation by the Justice Department, due to their large market share as a search engine and advertising on the platform. The report also found that they had engaged in anti-competitive actions by using third party sites like Yelp to improve their own features. The company argued that their free services were an aid to the consumer but the committee believes that this company among the others should be broken up or restructured to allow for free competition in the marketplace. 

Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp was a large red flag for the committee. By acquiring competitors or mimicking features on other sites, they were limiting their competitors in social media. The report found that Facebook was using Instagram to further benefit themselves, the parent company, and vice versa, forming an internal sort of communication which is hostile to the industry. The committee’s recommendation was to separate the two social media platforms. 

Amazon is under fire for their policies with third party sellers. Amazon promotes their own products ahead of other merchants and is capable of changing policies rapidly on sellers who depend on their site for income. According to The Wall Street Journal, their internal production has been found to use third party data to copy products for their own line undercutting independent sellers. 

Apple faced criticism for their policies towards app developers. The representatives found that Apple holds a monopoly on the apps sold on iPhones and iPads which has allowed Apple to take 30% of the earnings and has driven up prices overall as a result. 

The push for antitrust reform was bipartisan, but the legislation in this report was primarily suggested by Democrats. Republicans are more hesitant to engage in breaking large companies and drastically changing the market. However, this report will serve as a stepping stone to amending legislation and returning power to the consumer. 

Photo courtesy of POLITICO.COM