Bipartisan Antitrust Enforcement and Reform in the New Congress: A Look at Tech, AI, and TikTok's Future

Bipartisan antitrust enforcement has increased, exemplified by cases against Google, Facebook, and Ticketmaster.

### Bipartisan Antitrust Enforcement and Technology Regulation Initiatives
* 🤝 The subcommittee hearing emphasizes the importance of a **bipartisan approach to antitrust enforcement**, highlighting cases against major companies like **Google and Facebook** that began under the **Trump administration** and continued through the **Biden administration**.
* 📈 Recent years have seen more aggressive antitrust actions, including significant cases against Ticketmaster, demonstrating a **growing consensus on the need for competition in the marketplace**.
* 💡 The appointment of new officials, such as Gayle Slater at the Justice Department, is expected to **maintain momentum in ongoing antitrust cases**, reflecting a **commitment to enforcing competition laws**.
* 🛡 The Take It Down Act, co-sponsored with Senator Cruz, aims to **combat the misuse of pornographic imagery**, addressing a critical issue that has resulted in **tragic consequences, including 20 suicides among young victims in one year**.
* 📝 The bill mandates that platforms must **remove non-consensual pornographic content** and reinforces the legal framework against such abuses, emphasizing the **need for accountability in digital spaces**.
* ⚖ Regarding conflict-of-interest rules, the senator acknowledges the **necessity for regulations to ensure that wealthy individuals in government positions act in the public interest**, aligning with sentiments expressed by Senator **Elizabeth Warren**.
* 📜 On the matter of TikTok, the senator supports a balanced approach to regulation, advocating for rules that **ensure competition and protect intellectual property**, while recognizing the bipartisan support for **potential bans on the platform**.
* 🌐 Overall, the discussion underscores a commitment to **enhancing competition and regulating technology platforms** to **safeguard consumer interests and promote innovation**.

You are leading a subcommittee hearing today titled Continuing a Bipartisan Path Forward for Antitrust Enforcement and Reform. And I do wonder, in what will become, in January, a Republican-controlled Congress and White House, what that bipartisan path actually looks

Okay. Well, first of all, thanks for having me on, Kelly. It's great to be on. And I think what you've seen in this area of antitrust, you've seen some broad bipartisan agreement on a number

Right. For instance, the Google case started under the Trump administration, the first Trump administration, as did the Facebook case that was at the FTC. Google was at the Justice Department, and then it proceeded through the Biden

administration. The Biden administration also brought two major cases, for instance, against Ticketmaster and other companies. And so you've seen more aggressive antitrust enforcement over the last few years, and now you have new appointees going in place.

And at least one of them, I have heard, is believed, is over at the Justice Department, with some former Democratic antitrust enforcers, that she knows what she's doing. I'm looking forward to meeting with her, Gayle Slater, and I'm hoping that we will continue those cases.

Well, I love competition. I like capitalism. That's why I'm for antitrust enforcement. Well, you've mentioned Gayle Slater. What about Andrew Ferguson? Do you think he loves the issue of competition in the same way that you do?

Do you trust that the FTC will be in good hands under his leadership? You know, I am looking forward to meeting with him. Interestingly enough, we do not confirm that position because he was already on the commission. There is a new member that is being

appointed on the Republican side. I'll note that he also wrote a piece on the breakup of Ticketmaster in which he favored that. So I just think with antitrust, because at its core, it is about competition and it's been a laggard for many decades.

And as a result, we're seeing more and more consolidation. It isn't that big companies are bad. It's that sometimes when you have no competition, then you start getting less innovation, higher prices, etc., etc.

So I'm actually really excited about this. Senator Lee and I are doing this together, this hearing. Senator Grassley and I have passed our bill together, and I think you're going to continue to see interest in tech. In fact, Senator Cruz and I did a joint interview this morning and, well, that

bill that we have gotten through the Senate on taking online porn off the internet. Different than antitrust. However, you're just going to continue to see bipartisan work on tech. Well, I'm glad that you have brought up the Take It Down Act, which you co-sponsored with Senator Cruz.

Is that trying to tackle symptoms of an underlying disease rather than the disease itself? And the disease I'm referring to here is unregulated artificial intelligence. Thanks. I really would like to bring in some rules of the road on AI.

And this bill is actually broader than
just AI pornographic pictures.
It's actually also real pictures as well as AI-created ones.
We're now seeing one in 12 Americans saying that they have been a victim or
know someone that's a victim of this.

We've had 20 suicides in one year of
young kids, 20 suicides because someone, a girlfriend or boyfriend, someone they
knew, put up their photo. They were embarrassed that their friends and their
family would know, and they killed

themselves.
These are FBI statistics. So, Senator Cruz and I came together.
The bill does two things. One, make it clearly a crime to use
pornographic imagery of someone else, whether it's AI-created or real.
And then, number two, that the platforms

have to take it down.
That's why it's called the Take It Down Act.
And they take down other violations of intellectual property. In fact,
people can be abused in this way to the point of committing suicide.
And in one case that I know of, Senator

Cruz's case, he actually had to call
Snapchat to get the image down after months of this victim from his state
dealing with it. That's just wrong.
Senator, I'd like to ask you about another one of your colleagues,
your fellow Democrat, Senator Elizabeth

Warren of Massachusetts, wrote a letter,
we understand, to President-elect Donald Trump, asking for firm conflict-of-
interest rules to be put into place related to Elon Musk, who, of course,
has been tapped to co-lead this new Department of Government Efficiency.
Have you had any conversations with

Senator Warren about that, or at the very least, do you share in that sentiment? Now, I haven't seen this letter, but I will say that I believe that we need conflict of interest rules in place for people who are making major decisions in

the government. That is what our people have done voluntarily for years now. And you have a number of very wealthy people going into the Trump administration. There's been wealthy people as well under Democratic administrations, but you have a number of them coming in. And we need the conflict of interest rules enforced.

And we need to know that the decisions they are making are not for their own interests, but for the interests of the American people. And I would hope that President-Elect Trump agrees. Finally, President-elect Trump yesterday met with the CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, at

Mar-a-Lago after saying in a news conference, Senator, that he has a warm spot in his heart for TikTok. When asked if he would like to see the ban go through, or will try to stop it, given some of the issues we have already

discussed around technology in particular and what is propagated on these platforms, what is your view about whether that ban should be enforced come January? Of course, this came out of Congress with strong bipartisan support, and there are two avenues here.

One is that they can follow the law and divest and find a buyer for the company. And the second is that they still are appealing to the Supreme Court. So my view has been that we should have rules of the road in place, by the way,

for all platforms. I have been way out there, as I think, you know, in terms of getting not just pornography off the Internet, but other very difficult things that are on there right now, and that we should have better policing of that, and people should have the right to

protect their own intellectual properties. Also, we should have antitrust enforcement. You just can't have, say, Google with a 90% market share on the search engine and not have any competition, and then allow them to sell preference, as we see with Amazon and other companies, for their

own products at the top. That's why the NFIB, which is not a liberal organization, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, is strongly supporting that. The bill that I have with Senator Grassley simply puts some rules of the road in place for competition on the

Sen. Klobuchar: Will See Bipartisan Work on Tech

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Discussion on bipartisan antitrust enforcement and reform, focusing on the continuation of current cases and the approach of new appointees.

Concern over bipartisan cooperation on antitrust enforcement under the upcoming Republican-controlled Congress and White House.

Examples of bipartisan agreement on antitrust cases, including Google and Facebook, initiated under the Trump administration and continued under the Biden administration.

Discussion of new appointees, including Gayle Slater at the Justice Department, and the hope for continued aggressive antitrust enforcement.

Conversation about specific individuals and their stance on competition and antitrust enforcement, along with the importance of such enforcement for innovation and fair pricing.

Questioning Andrew Ferguson's commitment to competition and trust in the FTC under his leadership.

Emphasis on the importance of antitrust enforcement to address increasing consolidation and its negative impacts on innovation and pricing.

Highlighting bipartisan efforts on tech-related issues, including antitrust and online safety.

Addressing online safety concerns, particularly regarding the spread of explicit content and the need for regulations on AI.

Discussion of the Take It Down Act, its aims to combat online pornography, and the need for broader AI regulations.

Highlighting the devastating impact of online image abuse, including suicides, and the urgency of addressing this issue.

Discussion about conflict-of-interest rules for government officials, particularly in light of wealthy individuals entering the Trump administration.

Discussion of TikTok's fate and the broader need for regulations for online platforms, including antitrust enforcement and content moderation.

Addressing the potential TikTok ban and the company's options, including divestment or appealing to the Supreme Court.

Advocating for rules and regulations for all online platforms to address issues like pornography, intellectual property protection, and antitrust enforcement.