The GAFA giants might be questioned by the US Congress. – DAMIEN MEYER / AFP
On Wednesday, lower than 100 days earlier than the US presidential election, US parliamentarians will query 4 of the world’s most iconic bosses, the leaders of tech giants, an business that has to date largely escaped the management of authorities from the nation.
The judicial fee is investigating doable abuses of dominant place by GAFA (Google, Amazon, Fb and Apple) and the relevance of current antitrust legal guidelines and their software. His questions might be listened to as rigorously because the solutions of Sundar Pichai (Alphabet, mum or dad firm of Google), Tim Prepare dinner (Apple), Mark Zuckerberg (Fb) and Jeff Bezos (Amazon).
As a result of within the context of basic distrust in direction of Fb, politicians of all stripes could possibly be tempted to assault particularly the social community, which they accuse of laxity within the moderation of content material and of getting an excessive amount of affect on election campaigns. On the danger of shifting away from the theme of competitors.
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“Designate culprits”
“These hearings are essentially used by members of Congress to identify culprits and make speeches for their constituency,” notes Douglas Melamed, professor of regulation at Stanford College, “But this time it could be different.”
For the previous 12 months, the US Division of Justice, the buyer safety company and states have additionally launched investigations into GAFA. On the fitting, as on the left, the stress is mounting towards the political and financial omnipotence of digital platforms, made extra important than ever in every day life by the Covid-19 pandemic.
And richer too. Between March and June, billionaires Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg gathered a further $ 43.7 billion and $ 32 billion, respectively, in response to a examine by an American suppose tank campaigning for tax justice.
“Make some concessions to avoid tightened controls”
Past the tantalizing solid, some analysts are questioning whether or not to place such completely different firms in the identical basket. “I expect a very theatrical audience more than concrete results,” stated Carolina Milanesi of Artistic Methods. “Companies will just realize that they have an interest in making some concessions to avoid tightened controls”.
Apple and Amazon are accused of being judges and events on their platforms, the app retailer for one and the e-commerce web site for the opposite. “It’s as if I had a store in a shopping center and the owner of that center set up a store in front of mine, to sell the same products as me, at lower prices,” says Mike Massey, the proprietor. of a sports activities gear model in New Orleans, throughout a press convention organized by Athena, a gaggle of anti-Amazon associations.
Google and Fb seize the majority of worldwide digital promoting income. Consumer interactions with their “free” and largely dominant companies enable them to construct shopper profiles and promote ultra-targeted promoting house on a really giant scale.
Acquire and use private information
However GAFA even have issues in frequent. Born within the American “Wild West”, they’ve largely prolonged past their core enterprise, from the cloud to leisure, with new initiatives and acquisitions. Above all, they’re masters within the artwork of accumulating and utilizing private information, the engine of the digital financial system. Troublesome for different gamers to compete in these circumstances.
However “if the data has been obtained legally, to build better products, it is considered a sign of effectiveness,” notes Douglas Melamed. Parliamentarians should subsequently decide whether or not the 4 behemoths dominate because of unlawful practices aimed toward crushing all competitors.
Not like the European authorities, america has been slightly cautious on the problem. “Our laws are less conducive to the application of sanctions, and there is this faith in general in the ability of markets to regulate themselves,” stated Harry First, professor of regulation at New York College.
New legal guidelines?
“Regulators are cautious because they don’t like losing in court,” provides the previous director of the New York legal professional’s antitrust division. US regulation, as utilized in recent times, requires that in an effort to authorize motion towards companies, their actions clearly hurt customers, by driving up costs, for instance.
Therefore the second query requested, implicitly, to the judicial fee: ought to new legal guidelines be promulgated? Even within the occasion of a optimistic response, it is going to in all probability be vital to attend for the subsequent Congress, after the end-of-year elections.
New laws “would probably have a better chance of solving the problem, but it will take time to interpret it,” stated Harry First. “This is not a quick fix.”
