As tech antitrust efforts build in Congress, American consumers are generally not in favor of pending regulations, data from an industry-led report shows.
Only 3% of surveyed Americans view tech regulation as a major concern for their households, according to the Consumer Technology Association's recent poll of 1,009 U.S. adults. By comparison, 68% ranked the current inflationary environment as a top issue for them. Participants were polled online between May 16-18, 2022.
The report added that 87% of respondents vow to take some level of action if regulation impairs their ability to use services offered by Big Tech companies such as Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. and Apple Inc. Those actions include finding an alternative service, advocating for reversing regulations or stopping the use of the service altogether, a CTA spokesperson told Market Intelligence.
Data protection has historically been a concern for consumers. About 36% of respondents to 2001's "Voice of the Connected User Landscape: Connected Customer, Trust and Privacy" survey indicated that they were very concerned about the preservation of their personal data online, while nearly 48% were somewhat concerned. Only 14% indicated they were not very concerned.
Since the mid-2010s, dozens of anti-competitive and consumer harm probes have been launched against Big Tech by the Federal Trade Commission, as well as individual U.S. states and the European Union.
The FTC is currently investigating tech giants to determine whether they block out competition and harm consumers, among other accusations.
In Congress, Axios reported recently that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., plans to get legislation aimed at prohibiting dominant platforms from self-preferencing onto the Senate floor for a vote sometime this summer. In Europe, large-scale antitrust and competition packages aimed at digital platforms are also finalizing.
In January, the FTC and U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division announced a "broad-based overhaul" of existing merger guidelines aimed at better evaluating competition within specific markets, as well as potential competitive threats to emerging businesses. A draft of those guidelines is expected to be released later this year.
Some tech leaders have weighed in on regulation matters, with some arguing that regulation would be damaging, while others say that Big Tech should collaborate with regulators.
The Biden administration's vast policy agenda asks regulatory agencies to spur competition in tech and broadband landscape. The FTC, now complete with a Democratic majority with the confirmation of Alvaro Bedoya, is expected to launch more consumer protection proposals.
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