Hearing: American Innovation and Choice Online Act

S. 2992, American Innovation and Choice Online Act (Sponsors: Sens Klobuchar, Grassley, Durbin, Graham, Blumenthal, Kennedy, Booker, Hirono, Hawley). The American Innovation and Choice Online Act would:

• Set clear, effective rules to protect competition and users doing business on dominant online platforms, including:
  • Prohibiting dominant platforms from abusing their gatekeeper power by favoring their own products or services, disadvantaging rivals, or discriminating among businesses that use their platforms in a manner that would materially harm competition on the platform; and
  • Prohibiting specific forms of conduct that are harmful to small businesses, entrepreneurs, and consumers, but that do not have any pro-competitive benefit, including:
    • Preventing another business’s product or service from interoperating with the dominant platform or another business;
    • Requiring a business to buy a dominant platform’s goods or services for preferred placement on its platform;
    • Misusing a business’s data to compete against them; and 
    • Biasing search results in favor of the dominant firm.

• Give antitrust enforcers strong, flexible tools to deter violations and hold dominant platforms accountable when they cross the line into illegal behavior, including significant civil penalties, authority to seek broad injunctions, emergency interim relief, and potential forfeiture of executive compensation.

• Prevent self-preferencing and discriminatory conduct by the most economically significant online platforms with large U.S. user bases which function as “critical trading partners” for online businesses. For such platforms, the rules target harmful conduct, allowing the platforms to innovate, do business, and engage in pro-consumer conduct, including protecting user privacy and safety, preventing unlawful behavior, and maintaining a secure online experience for users.