The Department of Justice last week launched a wide-ranging antitrust review to determine if the largest technology companies are, or have been, stifling competition.
The four that are reported to be most focused on — Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google — account for almost a million high-paying jobs with good benefits, and are massive contributors to this year’s strong projected 2.5 percent-plus GDP growth rate.
Facebook, Google, Amazon and Snap all reported earnings last week. Aside from Amazon’s — affected by a big investment in faster delivery — they were pretty impressive. (Apple reports this week.) So people clearly are using these platforms to conduct commerce and communication.
There are always unintended consequences of big government trying to wrestle with an industry. The DOJ needs to be mindful of that, and not return to the Obama days of excess corporate harassment.
While the privacy issues are real and absolutely need to continue to be addressed, the anticompetitive aspect seems to me rather nonsensical.
Silicon Valley’s growth machine is one of the bright lights of the economy, not only in the US, but globally.
So I like the way the FTC handled the Facebook settlement announced on Wednesday. Facebook agreed to pay a $5 billion penalty due to the privacy issues and the use of people’s data, as happened in the Cambridge Analytica fiasco.
Those who say that’s not enough money don’t get it. It’s not about the money, it’s about the behavior. The FTC, by requiring Zuckerberg’s certification that its newly-agreed-to privacy rules are adhered to, found a great way to truly address any issues going forward without inhibiting growth and innovation.
These companies don’t stifle competition; they finance and foster it!
Let’s not give China or any other advanced economies a technological advantage by hampering our own geniuses and shooting ourselves in the foot.
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