Ending Platform Monopolies Act
Latest action · Jun 24, 2021 Ordered to be Reported (Amended).
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJun 11, 2021
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Ending Platform Monopolies Act
This bill prohibits large online platforms, as designated by the Department of Justice or Federal Trade Commission, from offering certain products or services from another line of business that is owned or controlled by the platform.
Specifically, such platforms are prohibited from owning or controlling another line of business that (1) uses the platform to sell products or services, (2) offers a product or service that the platform requires a business user to purchase or use as a condition for access to the platform, or (3) gives rise to a conflict of interest.
Under the bill, a conflict of interest occurs when a platform operator's ownership or control of another line of business creates an incentive and the ability for the platform to
- provide an advantage to the platform's own products or services over those of a competitor on the platform, or
- exclude or disadvantage the products or services of a competitor on the platform.
For example, under the bill, Amazon.com, Inc. may be prohibited from offering for sale on Amazon.com privately labeled products or services (e.g., Amazon Essentials, AmazonBasics, etc.) if designated as a large online platform.
Finally, the bill prohibits a director, officer, employee, or agent of a platform from simultaneously serving in the same or a similar role with a formerly affiliated entity.
Cosponsors 24
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jun 11, 2021 to Apr 25, 2022; 4 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-RI | David N. Cicilline | Original | Jun 11, 2021 |
| D-NY | Jerrold Nadler | Original | Jun 11, 2021 |
| R-CO | Ken Buck | Original | Jun 11, 2021 |
| R-TX | Lance Gooden | Original | Jun 11, 2021 |
| D-GA | Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. | Jun 14, 2021 | |
| D-MD | Jamie Raskin | Jun 14, 2021 | |
| D-CO | Joe Neguse | Jun 14, 2021 | |
| R-NC | Madison Cawthorn | Jun 14, 2021 | |
| D-PA | Mary Gay Scanlon | Jun 14, 2021 | |
| D-NY | Mondaire Jones | Jun 14, 2021 | |
| R-NV | Mark E. Amodei | Jun 16, 2021 | |
| R-AZ | Paul A. Gosar | Jun 21, 2021 | |
| D-IL | Jesús G. "Chuy" García | Aug 6, 2021 | |
| D-MI | Andy Levin | Oct 8, 2021 | |
| D-NY | Adriano Espaillat | Oct 15, 2021 | |
| D-MI | Rashida Tlaib | Nov 16, 2021 | |
| D-CA | Katie Porter | Nov 30, 2021 | |
| D-ME | Chellie Pingree | Dec 23, 2021 | |
| R-GA | Jody B. Hice | Jan 14, 2022 | |
| R-UT | Burgess Owens | Feb 2, 2022 | |
| D-NY | Hakeem S. Jeffries | Feb 2, 2022 | |
| D-CA | Barbara Lee | Feb 15, 2022 | |
| D-MN | Ilhan Omar | Feb 15, 2022 | |
| D-CA | Mark DeSaulnier | Apr 25, 2022 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred Jun 11, 2021Markup Jun 23, 2021Markup Jun 24, 2021 |
Actions 5
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jun 24, 2021Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
- Jun 24, 2021Ordered to be Reported (Amended).
- Jun 23, 2021Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
- Jun 11, 2021Introduced in House
- Jun 11, 2021Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- Oct 31, 2022H.R. 3825, Ending Platform Monopolies ActAs ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary on June 24, 2021
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 167, no. 102, June 11, 2021, page H2710.
CRS reports 3
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 3
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R46875 | Antitrust Reform and Big Tech Firms | Report | Nov 21, 2023 |
| R47228 | The American Innovation and Choice Online Act Archived | Report | Dec 2, 2022 |
| R47104 | Big Tech in Financial Services | Report | Jul 29, 2022 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To promote competition and economic opportunity in digital markets by eliminating the conflicts of interest that arise from dominant online platforms' concurrent ownership or control of an online platform and certain other businesses.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Ending Platform Monopolies Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Commerce.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jun 11, 2021Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
