Several companies and business groups, including Spotify and Yelp, have written to U.S. senators imploring them to pass a bill that would curb the power of Big Tech firms such as Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta.
As Reuters reported Monday (June 13), Sen. Amy Klobuchar and other legislators from both sides of the aisle said they have the votes to approve the bill, which would bar tech companies from favoring their own businesses on their platforms.
As PYMNTS noted earlier this month, a vote on the proposal — which was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in January and the House in 2021 — could come later this month.
Read more: Lawmakers Seek to Push Antitrust, Privacy Bills as Big Tech Revamps Lobbying Efforts
Supporters of the measure said in the letter that the legislation is a “moderate and sensible bill aimed squarely at well-documented abuses by the very largest online platforms,” according to the report.
Signatories of the letter also include companies like Sonos and DuckDuckGo and organizations like the American Booksellers Association, the American Independent Business Alliance, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and Kelkoo Group, the report stated.
The organizations are urging the Senate to OK the bill, saying it would modernize antitrust laws and give smaller companies room to compete.
Big Tech executives such as Apple CEO Tim Cook have spoken out against the bill. And Amazon published a blog post June 1 saying it was unfairly targeted by the legislation.
See more: Amazon Says US Antitrust Bill ‘Targeted at’ Us
The retail giant said the bill “jeopardizes two of the things American consumers love most about Amazon: the vast selection and low prices made possible by opening our store to third-party selling partners, and the promise of fast, free shipping through Amazon Prime.”
Amazon also argued that legislation should be equitable for all large retailers, saying that the market value target in the bill would also apply to companies like Walmart, Target and CVS.
