The Self-Preferencing hearing is getting started shortly! You can watch live online here: judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/compe… #PlatformCompetition
Starting off with @SenMikeLee: FTC & DOJ are investigating whether tech giants have violated the antitrust laws. Big is not categorically bad he says, our antitrust laws tolerate monopolies, if they're acquired by business acumen or a better product. #PlatformCompetition
@SenMikeLee Really appreciate so many Senators being here for the subcommittee hearing when there are so many other issues taking their time today! We've got @SenMikeLee, @SenAmyKlobuchar, @SenBlumenthal, @SenBooker,
@HawleyMO, and @MarshaBlackburn in attendance. #PlatformCompetition
@HawleyMO, and @MarshaBlackburn in attendance. #PlatformCompetition
@SenMikeLee @SenAmyKlobuchar @SenBlumenthal @SenBooker @HawleyMO @MarshaBlackburn Now to @SenAmyKlobuchar, she says she's been hearing complaints about self-preferencing by digital platforms for years. #PlatformCompetition
@SenMikeLee @SenAmyKlobuchar @SenBlumenthal @SenBooker @HawleyMO @MarshaBlackburn People may not know the nuances of antitrust law, but they see their costs going up, wages stagnated, and the startup slump is real. Americans know intuitively that competition is key, and that our country has a monopoly problem. says @SenAmyKlobuchar #PlatformCompetition
@SenMikeLee @SenAmyKlobuchar @SenBlumenthal @SenBooker @HawleyMO @MarshaBlackburn Great explanation from @SenAmyKlobuchar:
Self-preferencing occurs when the platform operator leverages its market power to advantage its own products over third party competitors. It can elevate its own products on the search engine results page...
Self-preferencing occurs when the platform operator leverages its market power to advantage its own products over third party competitors. It can elevate its own products on the search engine results page...
can build the product into the platform itself, impose costs for competitors, and more. Some types of self-preferencing are ok, e.g. including a flashlight in a phone. But can't take that reasoning too far, because those arguments can be used to excuse harmful behavior.
.@SenAmyKlobuchar announces she is introducing the Anticompetitive Exclusionary Conduct Prevention Act! This will address self-preferencing and other forms of exclusionary conduct across the economy, not just in #BigTech.
@SenAmyKlobuchar Now Gene Kimmelman: What's happening with dominant digital platforms is different. We're not getting the market entry, the challengers to take them down, over numerous years. Barriers to entry stand in the way to competition. Entry drives innovation &quality. We need to fix this.
@SenAmyKlobuchar Recent court decisions have put additional burdens on the antitrust enforcement agencies. They now require a level of demonstrable harm that antitrust was not intended to require. The legislation @SenAmyKlobuchar is introducing today will address this problem #PlatformCompetition
@SenAmyKlobuchar We also need more. Remember the break-up of AT&T? We had a dedicated regulator to grow competition there. Same in cable. These kinds of interventions are what we now need for digital platforms. says Gene Kimmelman in his opening statement. #PlatformCompetition
Next up, @Sally_Hubbard from @openmarkets. The American dream is about upward mobility, achieved in a society with few barriers. Today, we don't have a society with few barriers. Digital platforms are very powerful, and can pick themselves as the winners. #PlatformCompetition
@Sally_Hubbard @openmarkets .@Sally_Hubbard says The enduring dominance of these companies is due in part to antitrust violations. She calls their self-preferencing #platformprivilege. Retailers have little choice but to sell on Amazon. Facebook and YouTube give preferential treatment to divisive content.
@Sally_Hubbard @openmarkets We also need to open up these markets with interoperability and regulation. says @Sally_Hubbard. And she finishes up with a great ending: "Entrepreneurs deserve a shot at the American dream." #PlatformCompetition
You can take action today to help us promote competition in digital platforms! Click publicknowledge.org/DigitalRegulat… to contact Congress and tell them we need a digital regulator now. #PlatformCompetition
Now we're hearing from @Yelp's @lutherlowe. Google's approach was to get people off their site and where they want to go as quickly as possible. Google was the anti-self-preferencing agent of the internet. Today, we see much more "answer boxes". Sometimes this is good, but...
@Yelp @lutherlowe Sometimes its an opportunity for self-preferencing. @lutherlowe claims internal documents showed Google's algorithm put Google's results above Yelp's, even when Yelp was deemed the most relevant for the user. #PlatformCompetition
@Yelp @lutherlowe .@SenAmyKlobuchar: enforcement of Section 2 of the Sherman Act has been relatively rare. We haven't seen an increase in enforcement even though people complain about self-preferencing. Would this new legislation help?
@Yelp @lutherlowe @SenAmyKlobuchar Kimmelman says there are currently extreme hurdles to bringing cases on exclusionary conduct. @SenAmyKlobuchar legislation shifts to an appreciable risk standard, which lowers the burden for the enforcemers. Then the defendant has an opportunity to show they're not monopolizing.
@Yelp @lutherlowe @SenAmyKlobuchar Now @SenAmyKlobuchar asks, if we don't consider regulation, should we be concerned that the EU and UK will set the standard for regulating platforms instead of us? #PlatformCompetition
@Yelp @lutherlowe @SenAmyKlobuchar The UK's Competition & Markets Authority published a really impressive interim report on digital platforms and competition. It's long, but here's my highlights: publicknowledge.org/blog/shot-acro… Your move Congress!
@Yelp @lutherlowe @SenAmyKlobuchar .@SenMikeLee asks about Google's role in the ads market, suggests it may be a good area for a future hearing. #PlatformCompetition
Now to @SenHawleyPress, we need interoperability, privacy protections, consumers should have a right to get their data back from these companies. #PlatformCompetition
Hawley is concerned that Amazon tracks the data of retailers and uses that data to undercut them. @SenHawleyPress #PlatformCompetition
@SenHawleyPress .@lutherlowe is particularly concerned about Google's "Answer Box". @HawleyMO confirms, Google took it's own local search out of the competitive relevance algorithm? @lutherlowe Yes. "They've sidestepped the merit-based process everyone else on the web has to go through."
@SenHawleyPress @lutherlowe @HawleyMO Now @SenBlumenthal is up. He's concerned that AG Barr has centralized the #bigtech antitrust investigations in political appointees. DOJ appears to be politicizing #antitrust. @Sally_Hubbard: the more antitrust is seen as political, the less legitimacy it will have.
@SenHawleyPress @lutherlowe @HawleyMO @SenBlumenthal @Sally_Hubbard Kimmelman points out, he never saw anything like this when he was working at DOJ Antitrust. @SenBlumenthal and Kimmelman agree, the staff are highly skilled. DOJ should be using those skilled career staff to make these decisions. #PlatformCompetition
.@MarshaBlackburn can a privacy law help w/ #PlatformCompetition Kimmelman says it's important to look at privacy legislation together with the impacts on competition. Some privacy rules leave out the largest companies by focusing on data sharing. More: publicknowledge.org/blog/data-prot…
@MarshaBlackburn .@MarshaBlackburn argues we're getting closer to a point where Google (and I would add Facebook) will own the digital you. Your identity on the internet. This is important to their power in the online ads industry as well. #PlatformCompetition
@MarshaBlackburn And here's more information on the new exclusionary conduct bill from @SenAmyKlobuchar, @SenBlumenthal, and @SenBooker: klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.c…
@MarshaBlackburn @SenAmyKlobuchar @SenBlumenthal @SenBooker And here's our press release on the bill: publicknowledge.org/press-release/…
@MarshaBlackburn @SenAmyKlobuchar @SenBlumenthal @SenBooker .@Sally_Hubbard tells a story of self-preferencing by Amazon. Amazon started selling a particular water filter, then it kicked off competing retailers and the prices went up dramatically. #platformcompetition
@MarshaBlackburn @SenAmyKlobuchar @SenBlumenthal @SenBooker @Sally_Hubbard She's interested to see switching data, how much do retailers switch away from Amazon? Sellers have told her they have no choice, other platforms are not enough for a viable business. @Sally_Hubbard #PlatformCompetition
@MarshaBlackburn @SenAmyKlobuchar @SenBlumenthal @SenBooker @Sally_Hubbard .@SenMikeLee asks a question I hear a lot. How does this differ from Kirkland brand being sold at Costco? The difference, says @Sally_Hubbard is that Costco is not as dominant as Amazon. If companies don't like Costco's self-preferencing, they can sell elsewhere.
@MarshaBlackburn @SenAmyKlobuchar @SenBlumenthal @SenBooker @Sally_Hubbard @SenMikeLee Lee asks about the non-discrimination rule. What would iOS look like under the non-discrimination rule? Where do we draw the line? @SenMikeLee
@MarshaBlackburn @SenAmyKlobuchar @SenBlumenthal @SenBooker @Sally_Hubbard @SenMikeLee Kimmelman says companies where we have low entry, and a gatekeeper role are the ones that should be subject to the rule. The expert agency would draw the line based on competitive impact. We want a fair app store where apps can compete without self-preferencing by the app store.
@MarshaBlackburn @SenAmyKlobuchar @SenBlumenthal @SenBooker @Sally_Hubbard @SenMikeLee There's a big cost to doing nothing here. Gene's written testimony includes many of the self-preferencing concerns we have today: publicknowledge.org/documents/gene…
