The antitrust subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee has completed its investigation into competition in digital markets to examine the abuses of market power by Apple, Google, Amazon, and Facebook. In a 449-page report, the committee shared findings and recommendations.
The report indicated that, as of September 2020, the combined valuation of the four big tech companies is more than $5 trillion—more than a third of the value of the S&P 100, and those companies “have captured control over key channels of distribution and have come to function as “gatekeepers”. The committee found that the companies create “a position that enables them to write one set of rules for others, while they play by another.”
“To put it simply, companies that once were scrappy, underdog startups that challenged the status quo have become the kinds of monopolies we last saw in the era of oil barons and railroad tycoons. Although these firms have delivered clear benefits to society, the dominance of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google has come at a price,” reads the report.
“These firms typically run the marketplace while seven also competing in it—a position that enables them to write one set of rules for others, while they play by another, or to engage in a form of their own private quasi regulation that is unaccountable to anyone but themselves.”