Hope has evaporated for a vote on game-changing tech legislation in this congressional session, and both sides in the debate are in agreement on at least one thing: Someone else is to blame.
Politicians from both parties are pointing fingers at tech companies, with Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, ominously referring to “pressure from Big Tech” and Hillary Clinton condemning “an enormous PR campaign” from tech companies. However, the biggest roadblock could be lawmakers who are the target of the tech companies’ lobbying and are among their most powerful constituents: The California congressional delegation.
“Arguably, the biggest reason we haven’t seen legislation is the California delegation is not sure it wants to harm the golden goose,” Ed Mills, a Raymond James analyst who closely follows tech legislation, told MarketWatch.
Most Northern California members serving in the heart of Silicon Valley have not not responded to repeated MarketWatch requests for comment on antitrust legislation over the past few months, including another round of calls and email messages last week. One who did, Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren, quickly pivoted the issue from antitrust to online content and privacy.
“Most of the bills that passed the House Judiciary Committee back in June 2021 are poorly-drafted, extreme and go beyond legitimate, real-world concerns with big tech companies,” Lofgren said in an email to MarketWatch. “What I find interesting and telling is that consumers in my district find the spread of misinformation and privacy abuses to be the most alarming and pervasive problems with the tech industry.”
There are exceptions, though they are often delivered in measured tones. “We need to update our existing antitrust standards and prevent companies from discriminating against competitors or sellers without enacting legislation that is overbroad or harms innovation,” Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna said in an email.
The resistance in California reflects the influence of a behemoth industry that dominates the local economy and is a fertile source of donations for local politicians, according to industry analysts.
“Even if there were 60 votes in the Senate before the buzzer, there is nothing ready to go in the House,” Capital Alpha Partners analyst Robert Kaminski told MarketWatch. “[House] Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi and California delegation are not going along with this.”
Opinion: Democrats promised to rein in Big Tech. They have failed.
There’s one other thing the warring sides are in agreement on: Don’t expect a vote, if any, until at least the lame duck session at the end of the year, after midterm elections. Congress broke Sept. 30, and lawmakers have turned their full energy and focus to the midterm elections in November.
“There will be no tech bills on the Senate floor before the midterm elections. The election results will help determine what’s possible after that.” Danny Weiss, head of advocacy at Common Sense, a nonprofit that supports tech legislation protecting consumers and competition.
The ‘Chaos Theory of Big Tech’
Comprehensive federal tech legislation — lacking for two decades — was always a long shot, contend political analysts. In late 2019, analysts at Capital Alpha Partners all but dismissed the chances of any tech legislation becoming law by 2020. Two years later, they stand by their prediction.
“News about a vote being pushed to after the election shows that there isn’t enough political will to get it done when it counts,” Kaminski told MarketWatch. “There isn’t enough political will because it isn’t obvious that tech antitrust is an urgent economic and social problem, in spite of what the hawks say.”
From 2019: Big Tech can avoid a real crackdown because of Congress’s chaotic efforts, analysts say
Despite broad support among Americans, antitrust legislation has languished for months in the Beltway, the victim of political…
Read More: Tech legislation appears dead, and the congressional finger-pointing has begun