Grassley, Klobuchar Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Lower Prices, Expand Consumer Choice and Restore Online Competition in the Digital Marketplace

Grassley, Klobuchar Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Lower Prices, Expand Consumer Choice and Restore Online Competition in the Digital Marketplace

WASHINGTON - Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) today introduced the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA). The targeted, bipartisan bill would restore online competition and affordability by preventing the world's largest digital platforms from abusing their market power to stifle competition, undercut online businesses and raise prices for American consumers.

AICOA would allow the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys general to challenge the world's largest online platforms for discriminatory or exclusionary conduct that harms competition. AICOA preserves legitimate safety, privacy, intellectual property, national security and constitutional protections, as well as popular services provided by large digital platforms.

"In today's digital age, a handful of dominant companies control what Americans can buy, hear and say online. When these companies abuse their market power to give themselves a leg up - whether through censorship, favoritism or discrimination - American consumers and small businesses pay the price," Grassley said. "The American Innovation and Choice Online Act is simple - it prohibits the largest Big Tech platforms from engaging in discriminatory behavior that stifles competition. This bipartisan solution will expand consumer choice, empower online innovation and help lower prices, while protecting the popular digital services Americans know and love."

"American prosperity was built on a foundation of open markets and fair competition, but right now our country faces a monopoly problem, and American consumers, workers, and businesses are paying the price," Klobuchar said. "As dominant digital platforms - some of the biggest companies our world has ever seen - increasingly give preference to their own products and services, we must ensure small businesses and entrepreneurs still have the opportunity to succeed in the digital marketplace. Our bipartisan legislation will do just that, while also providing consumers with the benefit of greater choice online."

Additional cosponsors include Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

Bill text is available HERE and a fact sheet is available HERE. Additional legislative background and a list of endorsing organizations are below.

Legislative Background:

AICOA only covers platforms that (1) have at least $175 billion in average annual gross revenue and (2) reach at least 34% of U.S. subscriber households or 34% of U.S. monthly active users over the age of 12.

Covered platforms are prohibited from:

• Unfairly favoring their own products or services.
• Misusing nonpublic business-user data to copy and compete against small businesses.
• Unfairly limiting competitors' access to key platform features.
• Blocking business users from accessing or moving their own data from one digital platform to another.
• Retaliating against users or business users who raise legal concerns.
• Unfairly enforcing terms of service in ways that harm competition.
• Conditioning companies' access to the platform, or product placement on the platform, on purchase or use of unrelated services.
• Locking users into default settings.
• Skewing ranking or presentation against similarly situated business users.

AICOA empowers federal and state agencies to stop conduct by Big Tech platforms that has a real-world, negative impact on competition, and would be enforced through civil actions in federal courts. Additionally, the bill includes the following safeguards to preserve safety, privacy and popular services:

1. AICOA includes language to ensure covered platforms can defend conduct necessary to comply with the law, prevent fraud or protect safety, privacy, nonpublic data or platform security.
2. AICOA does not require disclosure or licensing of intellectual property, trade secrets, confidential business processes or legitimate copyright and trademark enforcement.
3. AICOA does not require data sharing with entities organized under the laws of, or controlled by, foreign adversaries, including sanctioned entities or entities identified as security, intelligence or law enforcement risks.
4. AICOA does not authorize the DOJ, FTC or state attorneys general to dictate AI development, product design, ranking policy or content outcomes.

Endorsements:

AICOA is endorsed by Mozilla, Y Combinator, Proton, Yelp, DuckDuckGo, Fox Corporation, Replit, Travel Tech, Internet Works, and a coalition of leading antitrust scholars, advocates and organizations, including the Article III Project, the Digital Progress Institute, the American Principles Project, the Bull Moose Project, the Teamsters, Citizens for Renewing America, the Josh Hammer Show, the Internet Accountability Project, Public Citizen, Public Knowledge, P Street, the Open Markets Institute, Demand Progress, the Economic Security Project, Fight for the Future, the Future of Music Coalition, Writers Guild, Small Business Majority, Reasonable Online Commerce Coalition, American Booksellers Association and the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

"AICOA is commonsense competition policy. When dominant platforms can impose artificially high fees and preference their own services, consumers pay more and entrepreneurs build less. This legislation would restore fairness, unlock innovation and growth, and support the small businesses that are the real backbone of the economy," said Andy Yen, Founder and CEO of Proton.

"Modernizing US antitrust laws is no longer optional; it's necessary to meet the realities of today's digital economy. Gatekeeping behaviors like harmful self-preferencing allow the largest tech companies to undermine fair competition, user choice, privacy and security," said Jenn Taylor Hodges, Director of U.S. Public Policy & Government Relations of Mozilla. "Mozilla welcomes the reintroduction of the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA) as an essential step toward prioritizing choice and control for people, and enabling an open and competitive ecosystem where innovative services and providers compete on merit."

"America built the most valuable digital economy in history because anyone with an idea could reach the whole world without asking permission. The next decade of software will be defined by founders who couldn't have started a company a few years ago. Our job is to keep that door open for them," said Garry Tan, CEO of Y Combinator. "AICOA does exactly that. It keeps digital markets open and competitive so the winners are decided by what they build, not by which incumbent they can get past. It targets only the largest platforms, leaves every privacy, security, and safety protection fully intact, and says one simple thing: the market decides who wins."

"Open platforms let small teams turn ideas into companies. AICOA keeps that path open, ensuring innovation - not incumbency - determines who wins," said Amjad Masad, CEO of Replit, Inc.

"There's no doubt Big Tech has abused its monopoly power for too long, from throttling competitors, to silencing conservatives, to rigging the marketplace in its own favor. The Article III Project applauds Chairman Grassley and his colleagues for reintroducing the American Innovation and Choice Online Act. This bipartisan legislation helps end Big Tech's antitrust amnesty and restores real competition online. Entrepreneurs and small businesses deserve a fighting chance, and AICOA delivers," said Mike Davis, Founder and President of the Article III Project.

"[We] write to urge the Senate Judiciary Committee to reintroduce the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA)… By prohibiting dominant platforms from engaging in self-preferencing and other discriminatory practices, AICOA would restore competitive pressure that keeps prices in check… Today, with affordability at the top of voters' concerns, the case for action is stronger than ever," said a coalition of 16 antitrust organizations.

-30-

• Print
• Email
• Like
• Tweet