Big Tech Reforms Need Review of Cybersecurity to Ensure Capabilities Will Not Be Diminished, Event Hears
Despite their efforts to improve consumer competition and security, some argue Congress’s legislation could have unintended effects.
WASHINGTON, May 26, 2022 – Experts warned Monday that antitrust legislation being considered to rein in Big Tech could exacerbate cybersecurity concerns that may jeopardize smaller players.
During a Foreign Policy panel hosted on Monday, American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Klon Kitchen said many startups are dependent on the underlying datasets, technologies, and code provided by large technology companies.
He argued that while giants like Microsoft can invest billions of dollars in cybersecurity, smaller companies simply do not have the capital necessary to invest in their own protocols. He called for legislation to have a “robust and honest” security review before it is adopted – reviews he argued are not currently taking place.
Though the panelists did not point specifically to any one bill that is particularly harmful, there are currently several high-profile bills aimed at reforming the tech industry.
One such bill that has been in the spotlight for several months is Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s, D-Minn., Consolidation Prevention and Competition Promotion Act of 2021, or S.3267. This bill would severely limit large tech companies from engaging in the acquisition of nascent competitors. The bill has been introduced in the Senate and has been read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
American companies targeted in a field with global players
Former Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte also expressed concerns Monday about various antitrust legislation before Congress.
Maggie Lake and John Negroponte
“The various proposed bills out there generally only apply to a handful of United States companies, and in addition to that, they would not apply at all to foreign companies,” he said. “This is not a purely domestic market, although sometimes reading these laws, you would think that the drafters believe [that is the case].”
