U.S. senator (Hawley) wants to ban Big Tech from buying anything ever again

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

RETAIL
APRIL 12, 2021 4:50 PM UPDATED 13 MINUTES AGO

U.S. senator wants to ban Big Tech from buying anything ever again

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican who has been a staunch critic of Big Tech, said on Monday he has introduced a bill that would ban all mergers and acquisitions by any company with a market value greater $100 billion, a category that includes the five biggest U.S. tech companies.

Hawley, who accuses the biggest social media companies of stifling conservative voices, also criticized other sectors, like pharmaceuticals, which he said were too concentrated and held too much market power.

His new bill would effectively ban Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Amazon.com Inc, Alphabet Inc’s Google and Facebook Inc from any deals and would attempt to stop their platforms from favoring their own products over those of rivals.

Hawley’s bill tackles some of the same problems as an antitrust bill introduced by Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar in February, and contains some similar measures.

Asked about Klobuchar’s bill, Hawley said, “I’m willing to work with her and anybody of any party and any background. I like a lot of what Senator Klobuchar has proposed.”

-snip-

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tech-antitrust-hawley/u-s-senator-wants-to-ban-big-tech-from-buying-anything-ever-again-idUSKBN2BZ2MD

[Ocelot II]

1. Whatever happened to your free market, Josh?

Thought you GOPers just hated antitrust regulations.

[East-A-Squared]

2. I thought republickers hated communism.

[Dawson Leery]

3. Typical conservative, talking out of both sides of his mouth.

One said says communism is bad, the other says the government should dictate all terms of the existence private enterprise.

[rickyhall]

4. What he said about Big Pharma sounds like Teddy Roosevelt.

But what he says about Big Tech is pure Repug.

[Lettuce Be]

5. I'm in favor of this

I don't see this as a negative -- stopping companies with these huge valuations from literally owning it all is important but does it go far enough or is it meant only for big tech?