“We are in the middle of a David vs. Goliath fight that will determine the future of our internet and how we safeguard our economy and families online. The stakes couldn’t be higher, which is why I am proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with smaller tech companies against the Big Tech giants that have spread disinformation, stamped out their small business competitors, and endangered children and teens online,” said Sacha Haworth, Executive Director of the Tech Oversight Project. “Schumer has promised a vote. The White House expressed their support. With a more than likely Republican House to take over in January, the time to get this done is now. We cannot continue to kick the down road in reining in Big Tech.”
Big Things to Know:
- Small tech companies like DuckDuckGo, Yelp, Roku, Neeva, Proton, Andi, and Kelkoo Group, combined resources with the Tech Oversight Project to advocate directly to lawmakers, demonstrating once again the broad coalition of support behind antitrust reform.
- This is a David vs. Goliath fight. Big Tech groups, such as the Chamber of Progress, CCIA, and NetChoice, have spent over $120 million on TV ads alone in Senate battlegrounds pushing negative messaging against sitting U.S. Senators.
- Beginning in January 2021, Big Tech’s obscene TV spending has even surpassed Big Pharma in their push to block popular reforms like Medicare-negotiated drug prices.
- Just last week, Chamber of Progress CEO Adam Kovacevich released a memo that Politico’s Morning Tech covered. The piece hinted that Georgia Democrat Senator Raphael Warnock should be wary of supporting AICO and OAMA – for fear of an avalanche of ads.
ICYMI: Bloomberg: Google, Apple Rivals to Launch Ad Campaign for Bill Against Big Tech
By Emily Birnbaum on 11/15/22
A group of small tech companies this week will launch an advertising campaign urging lawmakers to pass landmark legislation that would diminish the power of the country’s largest internet giants.
The small companies, which compete with Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc., are hoping to push Congress to pass the bill by the end of this year, before a likely GOP majority takes over. Top Republicans have signaled that the legislation, called the American Choice and Innovation Online Act, would fail in a GOP-led House.
“For years, Big Tech has acted as the fox guarding the hen house of online competition,” said Ben Kobren, head of public policy at Neeva Inc., an ad-free search engine that competes with Google. “The American Innovation and Choice Online Act is the first bipartisan legislation in decades to meaningfully level the playing field and spur American innovation.”
The six-figure ad buy, which was funded by companies including Neeva, search engine DuckDuckGo Inc. and price-comparison service Kelkoo Group Ltd., will run on major networks including CNN and MSNBC in the Washington market. The Tech Oversight Project, a group that says it opposes anticompetitive behavior by big tech companies, helped to coordinate the ad campaign.
The lame-duck period after last week’s midterm elections is likely the last shot to pass the legislation, which would prevent the tech companies from using their platforms to thwart competitors. The measure would be the most significant expansion of antitrust law in over a century.
The ad buy shows that the most fervent advocates for the legislation, including supporters within the tech industry, are putting money, time and resources into the last-ditch push to get the bill across the finish line.
The 30-second ad, which is structured like a movie trailer, features images of negative headlines about the largest tech companies. “One bill is the ticket to freedom,” the narrator says in the ad, adding that the legislation will “help unleash American competition, American freedom and American innovation.”
“With a more than likely Republican House to take over in January, the time to get this done is now,” said Sacha Haworth, executive director of the Tech Oversight Project.
Meanwhile, the major tech companies and their trade groups have spent more than $120 million on advertising against the bill, blitzing the airwaves across the country with messaging against the legislation — especially in states led by vulnerable Democrats with close elections last week.
Ultimately, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will decide whether to bring the measure to a vote before the end of the year. The White House is planning a post-midterms push in favor of the legislation.