Reining In Big Tech

Four technology companies — Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple — known as Big Tech have transformed how people around the world shop, communicate and gather information. These economic powerhouses have a combined market value of more than $6 trillion, larger than the gross national product of any country except the United States and China. Their CEOs point out that the companies have brought millions of low-cost products and services to billions of customers, but critics say they are powerful monopolies that treat competitors unfairly and stifle innovation. Critics also say the companies' control of social media and online searches endangers democracy by fostering divisiveness and spreading alarming conspiracy theories. The U.S. Department of Justice has sued Google and Facebook for alleged antitrust activities, and the European Union is suing or investigating all four for alleged violations of antitrust or privacy laws. Meanwhile, bipartisan support is growing in Congress for restricting or dismantling the tech giants. Supporters, however, say the benefits the companies provide depend on their large size and breaking them up could do more harm than good.