Our working definition of a digital platform (with a hat tip to Harold Feld of Public Knowledge) is an online service that operates as a two-sided or multi-sided market with at least one side that is “open” to the mass market
Platforms
Senate Confirms Jonathan Kanter as Justice Department Antitrust Chief
The Senate confirmed Jonathan Kanter as the Justice Department’s top antitrust official, adding a pro-enforcement lawyer to a Biden-administration team that has already been aggressive in addressing what it sees as threats to competition. Kanter, 48, was confirmed on a bipartisan 68-29 vote, as Democrats and some Republicans believe antitrust enforcers should be doing more to protect competition in the marketplace, including in technology sector, agriculture and healthcare. Mr. Kanter has seen two decades of antitrust battles from several vantage points.
Federal Agencies Need to Be Staffed to Advance Broadband and Tech Competition
In the US, we need better internet. We need oversight over Big Tech, ISPs, and other large companies. We need the federal agencies with the powers to advance competition, protect privacy, and empower consumers to be fully staffed and working. New infrastructure legislation aimed at ending the digital divide gives new responsibilities to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and Congress relies on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to reign in Big Tech and others.
Sen Blumenthal Urges Snap to Release Internal Data on the Company's Effect on Children and Teens
Sen Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) wrote a letter to Snap CEO Evan Spiegel urging him to release internal data pertaining to the company's effect on children and teens. Blumenthal requested the following by November 24, 2021:
Senators Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Competition and Consumer Choice Online
Chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sen Tom Cotton (R-AR) introduced bipartisan legislation to make it more difficult for dominant online platforms to make acquisitions that harm competition and eliminate consumer choice. The Platform Competition and Opportunity Act will halt further harmful consolidation by:
FTC Efforts to Strengthen Online Privacy Protections Face Hurdles
The Federal Trade Commission has outlined a far-reaching vision for protecting consumers’ privacy online, but the plan faces numerous challenges.
Sen Cortez Masto Introduces Bill to Protect Americans' Data Privacy
Sen Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) introduced the Digital Accountability and Transparency to Advance (DATA) Privacy Act to strengthen data privacy protections for American consumers. The legislation would:
Facebook to Rebrand Company as Meta in Focus on Metaverse
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company would change its name to Meta to reflect growth opportunities beyond its namesake social-media platform in online digital realms known as the metaverse. “Over time I hope our company will be seen as a metaverse company,” Zuckerberg said. “We’ve gone from desktop to web to phones, from text to photos to video, but this isn’t the end of the line.
Advocacy Groups Urge FTC to Act Against Data Abuses and Discrimination
45 civil-rights, media-democracy and consumer-advocacy groups called on Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Khan to initiate a rulemaking to safeguard privacy, promote civil rights and set guardrails against the abuse of data online. Discriminatory and abusive data practices are prevalent across the digital economy, the groups wrote