John Oliver waded into the antitrust battle this week, and he didn't hold back.
Oliver devoted 25 minutes of his most recent Last Week Tonight show to discuss Big Tech badness and advocated for two historic antitrust bills currently being considered in Congress. The comedian zeroes in on claims made by advocacy groups and small businesses that the giants engage in anti-competitive behavior that cements their status as dominators.
Oliver referred to Apple's 30% App Store commission fee as "blood money" during the segment. Oliver criticized the company for exploiting it's market dominance in search. There is an estimate of how much of the search market share is held by one company. Two-thirds of all those searches never result in a user leaving a related property, according to Oliver. Imagine searching for a food recipe on the internet, only to be directed to a video. Oliver says that it's self-preferential in action. Oliver referred to businesses that have accused Google of stealing their content and argued that the tech giant's self-preferencing has limited their visibility and reach.
Oliver took issue with Amazon, which has faced a lot of opposition for allegedly favoring its own in-house brands over smaller competitors.
They do seem to win a lot of the time, according to Oliver. You are dead if they compete with you. He said that Amazon is the only place to buy and sell things on the internet. Unless you are looking to sell some human teeth, then you are on the wrong side of the law.
The break up of Bell Systems led to the invention of the answering machine and the modem, according to the comedian. Oliver acknowledged that there have been some small reforms from both Apple and Google in recent years, but he said those came only after a lot of lawsuits. Big Tech has argued against new antitrust measures.
The internet was supposed to be a revolutionary tool that would expand global access to information.
The segment aired less than 24 hours before dozens of companies and businesses joined together to write a letter urging Congress to push through a vote on antitrust legislation. The American Booksellers Association and the Institute for Local Self- Reliance are among those that signed the letter.
Some consumer advocacy groups and smaller tech companies have spent years spotlighting Big Tech's alleged anticompetitive practices and outsized political power. Fight for the Future, a major advocate for antitrust reforms, spoke favorably of the piece for its clear presentation of the alleged harms carried out by tech companies and for calling out Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's family ties with the very firms the new legislation would attempt to target.
The director of Fight for the Future said that there was a clear explanation of the harm of Big Tech monopoly.
The Last Week Tonight segment about net neutrality played an important role in spurring public support for the issue, according to an email from the man. There is a chance that this week's episode could lead to antitrust reform.
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