Media: Press Release

IAP Statement on Critical Big Tech Reforms in Omnibus Bill

December 22, 2022

WASHINGTON— Mike Davis, Founder and President of the Internet Accountability Project (IAP), released the following statement on the inclusion of several Big Tech bills—the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act (S.228), the Foreign Merger Subsidy Disclosure Act (S.4322), and the State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act (S.1787)—in the end-of-year omnibus legislation. 

“The inclusion of tech reforms in the omnibus marks a turning point in the fight against Big Tech monopolists who manipulate the market and cheat to drown out competitors, stifle innovation and undermine American values and interests. The tech oligarchs at Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Google spent millions of dollars trying to stop these bills from becoming law. This is only the beginning. In the next Congress, conservatives must support further, more aggressive antitrust legislation and other bills that would rein in Big Tech’s anticompetitive behavior, including the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, the Open App Markets Act, and the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act.

“Republicans must recognize that the old way of doing things – deferring to the Big Tech monopolists to regulate themselves – isn’t working and is not what their constituents are demanding. When we launched the Internet Accountability Project, the Washington establishment claimed none of our legislation would ever pass. But we’ve completely shifted the debate. Over the past three years, more checks on Big Tech have made their way into law than ever before. Elected Republicans are waking up to the fact that antitrust law enforcement is the conservative approach, as free markets require functioning markets. It’s not if—but when—we break up the trillion-dollar Big Tech monopolists,” said Mike Davis.

The IAP has worked to get these bills into law ever since their introduction. When Rep. Ken Buck (CO-04) introduced the State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act in May 2021, the IAP was one of the first conservative organizations to issue a statement in support of the bill. Earlier this year, the IAP launched its Big Tech War Room, providing a centralized source for the fight to break up Big Tech, specifically noting why the aforementioned three bills in the omnibus legislation are important in the ongoing war against the tech oligarchs. The IAP also spearheaded a letter written alongside other leaders in tech policy in July of this year to the House and Senate urging them to pass the State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act. In September, the IAP wrote to the House of Representatives, encouraging it to pass the bills that are in the Senate’s omnibus bill, and applauded their passage a day later.

The Merger Filing Fee bill empowers federal agencies with the requisite funds to enforce existing antitrust laws, and merger fees under this bill would reflect the Consumer Price Index each year. The Foreign Merger Subsidy Disclosure Act gives the appropriate agencies the necessary tools and funding to determine if companies are acting in a monopolistic fashion with financial proceeds from foreign sources. Finally, the State Enforcement Venue Act allows states to prosecute Big Tech and other corporate giants in courts chosen by the state instead of tech-friendly courts in states such as California. These three bills, all supported by the IAP, will fundamentally change how our government combats the outsized influence of Big Tech.

The Internet Accountability Project is a conservative grassroots advocacy organization that opposes Big Tech and seeks to hold these companies accountable for their bad acts.