There seems to be a growing concern that Facebook is too big and should be broken up. Among those calling for the breakup are Elizabeth Warren, Chris Hughes and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The FTC has asked Congress to pass a national privacy law to regulate the industry. While some disagree, it seems pretty clear
Elizabeth Warren Wants to Break Up Big Data – Could She Do It?
By David H. Evans on
Presidential Candidate Elizabeth Warren thinks Big Tech is too big and wants it—and, in particular, Amazon, Facebook and Google—broken up and their past mergers and acquisitions unwound. And the FTC recently announced it was forming a Task Force to look into the technology markets. There do seem to be issues with Big Tech. But is antitrust, as currently practiced, the best tool to address them? Ms. Warren contemplates this by suggesting a new regulatory regime should be implemented to control Big Tech. Should we treat platforms like a regulated utility? Should we pass a new antitrust law that supplements current common law and allows for more vigorous enforcement? Or are there tools available to modern antitrust that can address Big Tech and the issues Ms. Warren identifies? We ask those questions and suggest some high-level responses to further the dialogue.
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Germany’s Probe of Facebook
By David H. Evans on
On Wednesday, March 2, 2016, the Bundeskartellamt (BKA), Germany’s antitrust enforcer, announced that it had initiated a probe of Facebook. In announcing the probe, BKA president Andreas Mundt stated that, “For advertising-financed internet services such as Facebook, user data are hugely important. For this reason it is essential to also examine under the aspect of…