Antitrust crusades won’t stop inflation
Free market advocates see this Republican dalliance with antitrust as misguided. “Many are angry with tech companies over content moderation issues such as bias, censorship or deplatforming,” commented Dr. Wayne T. Brough, technology and innovation director at the R Street Institute, via email. “None of these are antitrust questions, and the antitrust laws were not made to handle these issues. Unfortunately, frustration with Big Tech has led some Republicans to join forces with Democrats who see antitrust as a way to rein in Big Tech. In the end, passing sweeping new antitrust laws is a threat to innovation, a hindrance to global competition, and an expansion of government interventions in the marketplace.”
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R Street’s Brough fears that this renewed antitrust fever will keep running wild across both major parties on Capitol Hill and in the White House. “Even if legislation doesn’t pass this year, the momentum gained this year suggests that there will be a continued push for reform. In that sense, the political theater has been effective in mobilizing those seeking to break up Big Tech.”
