Break Up Big Tech

“Today’s big tech companies have too much power—too much power over our economy, our society, and our democracy.” – Elizabeth Warren

Download the Break Up Big Tech one-pager

WHAT THIS PLAN IS ABOUT

Big tech companies have bulldozed competition, used our private information for profit, and tilted the playing field against everyone else.

This is the plan to stop what’s not working.

But here’s what won’t change:

• You’ll still be able to go on Google and search like you do today.
• You’ll still be able to go on Amazon and find 30 different coffee machines that you can get delivered to your house in two days.
• You’ll still be able to go on Facebook and see how your old friend from school is doing.

Here’s what will change:

• Small businesses will have a fair shot to sell their products on Amazon without the fear of Amazon pushing them out of business.
• Google won’t be able to smother competitors by demoting their products on Google Search.
• Facebook would face real pressure from Instagram and WhatsApp to improve the user experience and protect our privacy.
• Tech entrepreneurs would have a fighting chance to compete against the tech giants.

WHY IT’S NEEDED

America’s big tech companies provide valuable products but also wield enormous power over our digital lives. Nearly half of all e-commerce goes through Amazon. More than 70% of all Internet traffic goes through sites owned or operated by Google or Facebook.

As these companies have grown larger and more powerful, they’ve used their resources and control over how we use the Internet to squash small business and innovation, and substitute their own financial interests for the broader interests of the American people.

They’ve done this through two main strategies:

• Using mergers to limit competition, for example Facebook purchased potential competitors Instagram and WhatsApp; and
• Using the online marketplaces they own while also having their own goods on the same marketplace. Amazon does this by copying the goods that small companies sell on the Amazon Marketplace and then selling its own branded version instead. This forces smaller business to sometimes go bankrupt because they can’t compete at a fair level.

WHAT THE PLAN DOES

Elizabeth’s plan would restore competition in the tech sector by:

• Passing legislation that prevents tech platforms from both owning the platform and competing with small businesses that use the platform.
• Appointing regulators committed to reverse illegal and anti-competitive tech mergers.

This would include unwinding up some existing anti-competitive mergers like:

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