Rep. Collins, GOP colleagues release Big Tech antitrust enforcement report

U.S. Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) joined several Republican colleagues this week to release a new report recommending federal antitrust actions to address anticompetitive behavior by Big Tech companies.

“It’s clear that the ball is in Congress’ court. Companies like Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook have acted anti-competitively,” according to the report entitled, The Third Way: Antitrust Enforcement in Big Tech. “We need to rise to the occasion to offer the American people a solution that promotes free and fair competition and ensures the free market operates in a free and fair manner long into the future.”

In addition to Rep. Collins, the report was released by author U.S. Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) and U.S. Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Andy Biggs (R-AZ). The document serves as a response to the majority staff’s report on the year-long Big Tech investigation conducted by the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law. Rep. Collins and his three colleagues launched the committee’s investigation into Big Tech.

“For too long, Big Tech has abused its dominance to engage in anticompetitive behavior and censor conservative voices, and it’s time Congress takes back its Article I authority to ensure the marketplace of ideas is working for every American,” Rep. Collins said. “By implementing these recommendations, we can ensure our antitrust laws already on the books are fostering free and fair competition in the digital marketplace and work best for both consumers and innovators.”

Rep. Collins also thanked Rep. Ken Buck for “his hard work and thoughtful solutions” to protect competition in the digital market. “I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to hold Big Tech accountable and ensure our antitrust laws are working to keep the market competitive,” he added.

Rep. Buck pointed out that antitrust enforcement in Big Tech markets is not a partisan issue and he supports the ongoing, bipartisan investigations of these companies. “But an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure — I would rather see targeted antitrust enforcement over onerous and burdensome regulation that kills industry innovation,” Buck said.