A group of U.S. state attorneys general sent a letter to lawmakers to urge them to pass bills to make antitrust laws stronger, Reuters reported.
The intent is to curb the power of companies like Facebook and Google, according to the report. The letter has expressed support for six bills which passed the House Judiciary Committee in June, with four of those directly addressing Big Tech’s platform powers. The other two give more power to enforcers.
One measure would make it so antitrust cases brought by the attorneys general could remain only in the court they select, which is the preferred mode of plaintiffs, the report stated.
“We encourage Congress to continue making improvements to these important measures,” the attorneys general wrote, per the report. “These include provisions to further enhance consumer protections from unlawful and irresponsible mergers and business practices, as well as necessary improvements to ensure that competition and innovation are not stifled.”
Those who signed the letter, according to the report, include Phil Weiser of Colorado, Letitia James of New York, Rob Bonta of California, William Tong of Connecticut, Douglas Peterson of Nebraska, Jeff Landry of Louisiana and Sean Reyes of Utah.
Big Tech has been under fire from multiple angles as there are three separate antitrust lawsuits against Google from state attorneys general, the report stated.
Clashes over antitrust issues even extend overseas. In India, for example, Google has been accused of using its dominant platform to hurt competitors.
Read more: Google Flexed Its ‘Financial Muscle’ in India, Antitrust Report Says
The search engine tech company has allegedly harmed the ability and incentive of device manufacturers to develop and sell devices which operate on other Android versions, per a June report by the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) investigations unit
In its defense, Google has said that its intent is to show how Android has bolstered competition and innovation rather than cut down on them.
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