Silicon Valley companies have benefited greatly from the assistance of high-level former knowledge and national security officials as they fought off efforts to stifle virtual monopolies and impose competition on big platforms.
Robert O’Brien, the former White House national security advisor to President Trump, said,” We need to maintain Big Tech strong so that it can keep America powerful.” O’Brien has written many view columns and href=”https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/former-trump-advisers-warn-big-tech-break-ups-make-us-vulnerable-china” rel=””>appeared on cable news programs to drum up support for anti-tech competitive legislation in Congress.
John Ratcliffe, the former Director of National Intelligence, Brian Cavanaugh, a former intelligence secretary in the White House, and O’Brien simultaneously wrote to legislative leaders, warning grimly that particular legislative proposals to test the power of Amazon, Google, Meta, and Apple would strengthen America’s opponents.  ,
The former intelligence officials wrote,” We know that our enemies, particularly China, will welcome any behavior by the federal government that undermine the strength of the U.S. technology industry.” The 2022 text warned that the “tech business weakened and susceptible to the CCP” due to changes like the Open App Markets Act and the American Innovation and Choice Online Act.
The former leaders were paid by tech industry activists at the time as part of a campaign to stifle support for the policy, according to the letter that was left unrecognized.
Tax statements show that the software giant paid O’Brien’s consulting company, American Global Strategies LLC, at least$ 1, 012, 500 through a class that lobbied politicians on big tech plans.
O’Brien, Ratcliffe, and Cavanaugh did not disclose the payments in the letter to congressional leaders. A request for comment was not received by AGS.
The payments were made through The Computer and Communications Industry Association, a trade group that represents Amazon, Google, Apple, Meta, Uber, eBay, Intel, and other major technology firms. The CCIA annual report clarifies that the organization spent$ 77 million in 2022, with the majority of that funding going to lobbyists, public relations firms, and outside strategists. Defending antitrust reforms like the AICOA was one of the group’s top priorities.
According to the disclosures, the tech company retained the services of Global Strategy Group, a polling and consulting firm that advises the Democratic National Committee as well as a group of former Trump intelligence officials. CCIA, notably, repeatedly cited O’Brien’s concerns around national security and China, casting him as a neutral expert rather than a paid consultant.
The Open App Markets App attempts to break the duopoly between Apple and Google in the smartphone app store market. Both businesses have complete control over which apps can be found on iPhone or Android devices. The businesses make use of their influence over the app markets to impose fees of up to 30 % on each transaction on app developers.
The arrangement generates immense profits. Last year, Apple collected over$ 23.7 billion in revenue from the app store, while Google made$ 13.5 billion from its Android app store.
Many Republican backers of the Open App Markets App legislation claimed that removing Apple and Google’s control of the smartphone app store would encourage more free expression and innovation. The two tech giants have historically removed conservative apps like Parler from the app store, preventing users from downloading alternative forms of social media. A bipartisan group of lawmakers, start-ups, and other business organizations have voiced their opposition to the exorbitant fees and arbitrary procedures used to screen apps.  ,
The American Innovation and Choice Online Act, on the other hand, encourages competition by preventing tech platforms from self-referencing their own goods. The bill was intended to stop businesses like Google and Amazon from retaliating against potential adversaries using their positions of dominance to defeat them.  ,
The Silicon Valley giants engaged in hundreds of millions of dollars in lobbying efforts to stymie the reforms. For Republicans, they crafted messages on national security and jobs. According to other reports, tech giants paid LGBT, Black, and Latino organizations to lobby against the reforms, claiming that more online competition would cause a rise in hate speech and that powerful tech platforms would benefit communities of color.
The lobbying strategies have so far paid off. Over the past four years, Congress has passed every significant tech antitrust and competition bill. The Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and a number of other plaintiffs who have fought the tech giants ‘ legal authority have now taken enforcement action.
