{"id":38347,"date":"2018-09-26T18:43:27","date_gmt":"2018-09-26T23:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=38347"},"modified":"2018-09-26T18:43:27","modified_gmt":"2018-09-26T23:43:27","slug":"the-real-reason-the-government-wont-hold-big-tech-accountable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=38347","title":{"rendered":"The Real Reason the Government Won\u2019t Hold Big Tech Accountable"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Real Reason the Government Won\u2019t Hold Big Tech Accountable<\/a><\/h3>\n

\"technology<\/p>\n

\n

The villagers are marching with their torches and pitchforks.\u00a0Big tech companies are in trouble.<\/p>\n

The government is coming to regulate them.<\/p>\n

Someone leaked a\u00a0draft of an executive order from President Trump<\/a>. It calls on various agencies to use all current laws to look into possible anticompetitive practices by Facebook and Google.<\/p>\n

In fact, the EU already\u00a0fined Google $5 billion<\/a> in July for \u201cabusing the market dominance of Android.\u201d And now they\u2019ve set their sights on how Amazon uses customer and seller data.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Warren wants to force Amazon to choose between providing a platform for sellers and selling goods. Echoing European Union regulators<\/a>, she says Amazon has an unfair advantage by competing against the same sellers it collects information from on its platform.<\/p>\n

Governments use antitrust laws to break up businesses that resemble monopolies. The government can call just about anything an \u201canticompetitive\u201d practice. The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 gives the US government sweeping powers to regulate almost any business behavior.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s plenty to choose from:<\/p>\n