Biden Expected to Pursue Antitrust Law Changes if Elected

If Joe Biden wins the November election, expect Democrats to pursue antitrust law changes that would raise the bar for acquisitions, experts said in recent interviews. President Donald Trump has shown more interest in politically driven attacks than serious policy work, they said.

Expect Biden to pursue threshold limits for transactions, as floated by Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said American Enterprise Institute visiting scholar Mark Jamison. Under Biden, Klobuchar and Warren would likely be some of the most influential members of Congress if they don’t land jobs within the administration, said International Center for Law & Economics Competition Policy Director Sam Bowman.

Trump hasn’t done a lot of substantive work on tech issues like privacy and antitrust, said Utah State University senior research fellow Will Rinehart. He agreed Democrats will be interested in adjusting antitrust thresholds. A Democratic presidential victory could mean a lot of momentum for flipping the Senate, and a unified government could pass substantial changes to competition law, he argued: It hasn't been a huge item for Biden, but it has been a major priority for Democrats on Capitol Hill.

Trump targets tech companies when they behave in ways he finds “personally inconvenient or objectionable,” said Cato Institute senior fellow Julian Sanchez. Either administration is likely to pursue additional regulation but with different approaches, he said: Republicans have a widespread belief that platforms are biased against conservatives and a modification to Communications Decency Act Section 230 is warranted. Democrats have a desire for more aggressive moderation to crack down on harmful content, he argued.

Republicans seem to think Big Tech is against them, and Democrats are worried about concentration of power, said Technology Policy Institute President Scott Wallsten. Privacy is more of an issue for Democrats than Republicans, but the GOP is increasingly concerned about a state privacy patchwork, he added. There’s growing demand on the right for federal legislation, with states setting the tone, said Sanchez. A Biden administration could mean the U.S. is more likely to pursue privacy regulation resembling the EU’s general data protection regulation, said Jamison: Both parties seem to be interested in federal privacy, but they differ on specifics.

Trump’s antitrust objectives have clearly been motivated by political ends, said Bowman. Any antitrust case against Google before the election could be seen as politically advantageous for the Trump administration, he said. It’s unlikely a Biden administration would drop an antitrust case against Google, given criticism from the left, but it won’t be a major priority because Biden hasn’t given Big Tech the same focus as Trump, he said.

Biden said in January that Section 230 should be “revoked.” The Democratic nominee also said breaking up Big Tech companies like Facebook deserves a “hard look.” On privacy, he said the U.S. should consider “standards not unlike the Europeans.” His running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., expressed interest in addressing issues of algorithmic bias and racial discrimination. Policy experts agreed that would be an area of focus under Biden. Neither of the campaigns commented Wednesday.