Tech giants have recently faced intense pressure from governments worldwide. Facebook and Google frequently become the subject of various investigations and get multibillion-dollar fines. However, the payment of a fine may soon be not enough.
President Joe Biden has signed an executive order that is likely to make life difficult for large US corporations. The new legislation will give federal agencies a free hand and make things harder for the dominant companies in the tech industry. The Biden Administration is willing to tighten regulation considerably in this field. The US authorities are concerned about risks posed to the economy by a decrease in competition: growing prices, the lack of choice for consumers, and limited rights of employees when changing jobs and employers.
Large companies, primarily Facebook and Google, have developed an effective strategy. They acquire promising start-ups, thereby destroying potential competitors. On the one hand, tech behemoths stay within the bounds of the law. On the other hand, they exploit their position and hinder the development of start-ups. Joe Biden is willing to protect them by ordering regulators to closely scrutinize mergers, “especially by dominant internet platforms, with particular attention to the acquisition of nascent competitors, serial mergers, the accumulation of data, competition by “free” products, and the effect on user privacy.”
