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The
bill targets Alphabet's Google and Meta's Facebook, as well as
Amazon.com and Apple, according to Senator Mike Lee's office.
The bill would prohibit big digital advertising companies, with
Google the biggest, from owning more than one part of the stack
of services that connect advertisers with companies with space
for advertisements.
The bill would only impact companies that do more than $20
billion in digital ad transactions. Affected companies would
have to do more than $20 billion in digital ad transactions.
"If enacted into law, this bill would most likely require Google
and Facebook to divest significant portions of their advertising
businesses-business units that account for or facilitate a large
portion of their ad revenue," Lee's office said in the
statement.
"Amazon may also have to make divestments, and the bill will
impact Apple's accelerating entry into third-party ads."
The companies did not immediately comment.
The bill's chief sponsors include antitrust experts including
Senators Mike Lee, a Republican, and Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat.
It also includes Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and
Republican tech skeptics such as Senators Josh Hawley and John
Kennedy.
In the last legislative session, Congress passed bills to give
enforcers bigger budgets and strengthen state attorneys general
but legislation aimed at reining in big tech died.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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