January 21, 2022

The United States Judiciary Committee has passed a bill that will prevent top tech giants from giving preference on their products over other businesses using their platforms.

Lawmakers voted on an amended version of the bill which will expand it to accommodate other companies like TikTok.

Another inclusion mandates tech companies not to share data with businesses that the U.S. government considers a national threat. The bill was introduced by Senators Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, and Chuck Grassley, a Republican.

The bill, since its inception, has faced critcizim including comments from Apple’s CEO Tim Cook. Cook criticized the bill on the basis that it would make it harder for Apple to allow consumers to protect their privacy.

Klobuchar, chair of the panel’s antitrust panel, said after the vote that she also had spoken with both Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. She noted that while she is open to changes concerning the bill, they won’t be throwing it away.

For more information, read the original story in Reuters