Klobuchar, Grassley Refile Tech Self-Preferencing Bill

Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, reintroduced legislation Thursday to ban tech platforms from self-preferencing products (see 2208010063). Co-sponsors for the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA) (S-2992) include Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and ranking member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Public Knowledge welcomed the bill’s reintroduction. Tech companies currently decide who “gets to compete against them, in what ways, on a playing field that they own,” said Competition Policy Director Charlotte Slaiman. “We need the fair competition requirements in the AICOA to ensure that these companies compete for users on the features we care about.” The Internet Accountability Project also welcomed the bill's refiling. President Mike Davis said: “Big Tech is crushing small businesses, stifling innovation and silencing its political opponents,” and AICOA would level the playing field.