The Rich UnclePennybags, also known as the Monopoly Man, has been a fixture at tech hearings. At their worst, the hearings allow CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg to appear like the smartest man in the room, making any real effort to rein in these tech monoliths difficult.
The Monopoly Man is similar to the bat signal over the city. An ad from a tech-focused advocacy group takes oldPennybags and turns him into a bad guy. The mask has something behind it. It is the main man, or at least a deep fake version, and he wants to thank congressional members for not passing antitrust legislation.
The most consequential action Congress is poised to take is a bipartisan bill to prevent companies like mine from self dealing is about to fade away like so many efforts to rein in big tech in the past. Who thinks the republicans will do any better than the democrats when the House changes hands in January?
The group said in a press release that it will run television ads in New York and Washington, DC, using the video. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act and Open App Markets Act are major tech antitrust bills that have not been moved.
The AICOA would prevent companies from giving preference to their own products and services in marketplaces, such as Amazon, when the site promotes its Amazon Basics products over competing items. Tech companies would be hit by the OAMA when promoting their own applications. Neither bill has been scheduled for a vote.
If Leader Schumer does not call a vote on these bills or attach them to a must-pass vehicle in the weeks ahead, he will have wasted Congress's best chance to hold Big Tech accountable. They'll have won again.
Politicians who accept money from big tech are targets of the ad. While some Republicans like Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan sometimes talk a big game against the worst impulses of big tech and tech policy, they often decry any meaningful effort from the House floor.
The antitrust legislation was going to be brought to a vote. With a packed session ahead of Congress, chances for a vote are slim. Schumer has received tens of thousands of dollars from tech companies and tech lobbying groups over the course of the last year. According to OpenSecrets, his fifth top contributor was the owner of Google, who gave $179,350 in donations for the last two election cycles. We did not hear back from Schumer's office after we contacted them.
Meta tried to fight off antitrust legislation. The lobbying group American Edge Project spent over $4 million on astroturf campaigns to fight the bills, according to reports.
Gizmodo reached out to Meta, but they didn't hear back.
Meta is not the only one acting shady. According to reports, Amazon has secretly funded anti-trust lobbyists in the US. Smaller tech companies argue that the bills are necessary to give them a fighting chance in the ever-consolidated world of big tech.
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