A bipartisan push for a new digital cop
For years, policymakers have worried about the growing power of digital giants like Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft, as they came to dominate more and more of everyday life. Now, two prominent senators are pushing to create a new federal agency to rein in the power of Big Tech.
Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, plan to introduce the Digital Consumer Protection Commission Act, which they say would restrain tech titans while letting them continue to innovate. But these companies have fought hard against increased oversight, and it’s unclear how a new agency will fit into a Washington already full of regulators.
The bill is in the vein of legislation that established agencies to oversee fast-growing industries, much like how Congress created the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Federal Communications Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This time, the focus is on online platforms that together command nearly $10 trillion in market cap and whose products touch on free speech, privacy, jobs and more.
“For too long, giant tech companies have exploited consumers’ data, invaded Americans’ privacy, threatened our national security and stomped out competition in our economy,” Ms. Warren told DealBook’s Ephrat Livni.