(2019-03-08) Warren Heres How We Can Break Up Big Tech

Elizabeth Warren: Here’s how we can break up Big Tech. A century ago, in the Gilded Age, waves of mergers led to the creation of some of the biggest companies in American history

But where the value of the company came from its network, reformers recognized that ownership of a network and participating on the network caused a conflict of interest.

We required a structural separation between the network and other businesses, and also demanded that the network offer fair and non-discriminatory service.

First, by passing legislation that requires large tech platforms to be designated as “Platform Utilities” and broken apart from any participant on that platform.

Amazon Marketplace, Google’s ad exchange, and Google Search would be platform utilities under this law.

Therefore, Amazon Marketplace and Basics, and Google’s ad exchange and businesses on the exchange would be split apart. Google Search would have to be spun off as well.

Second, my administration would appoint regulators committed to reversing illegal and anti-competitive tech mergers. (Anti-Trust)

unwind anti-competitive mergers, including:

• Amazon: Whole Foods; Zappos
• Facebook: WhatsApp; Instagram
• Google: Waze; Nest; DoubleClick

Protecting the future of the internet

Of course, my proposals today won’t solve every problem we have with our big tech companies.

We must give people more control over how their personal information is collected, shared, and sold — and do it in a way that doesn’t lock in massive competitive advantages for the companies that already have a ton of our data.