Big Tech has yet another reason to be worried about the threat of US government regulation.
President Biden announced Tuesday he is nominating Jonathan Kanter, a known legal foe of Google and other major tech companies, to head the Department of Justice’s antitrust division. If confirmed to his post by the Senate, Kanter will have the power to take on cases to break up Big Tech companies or otherwise limit the size of their businesses. And as head of the DOJ antitrust division, Kanter would also decide how to proceed with the Trump administration’s landmark case against Google for engaging in allegedly anti-competitive business practices.
Kanter has long argued that regulators have failed to enforce anti-monopoly antitrust laws against the tech sector and that this lack of regulation is hurting small businesses and American consumers. If he is confirmed, Kanter will join two other recent Biden appointees: Lina Khan, who heads the FTC; and Tim Wu, a top White House adviser on economic policy. Like Kanter, both built their careers making the case that the government needs to more aggressively regulate tech companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple.
These three powerful government figures are a worrisome trifecta for Google and other major tech firms. And their ascension to power is welcome news to advocates of breaking up Big Tech (so much so that some key political supporters have been touting “Wu & Khan & Kanter” mugs on social media).
