By Nandita Bose and Diane Bartz
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives antitrust subcommittee’s findings on the business practices of four large tech companies is expected to be broken up into three reports, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter, as bipartisanship among committee members appeared to break down.
The report from a Judiciary Committee panel focuses on how the business practices of Facebook Inc, Alphabet Inc’s Google, Amazon.com Inc and Apple Inc hurt rivals. A majority Democrat-led staff report is likely to be issued, along with two others from Republican members on the panel, the sources said.
The committee, led by Democratic Chairman David Cicilline, is expected to release the highly anticipated report this week. A spokesman for the committee declined to comment.
The two reports from Republicans are likely to come from Representatives Ken Buck and Jim Jordan. A draft of Buck’s report and recommendations was released on Monday, in which he said efforts such as those aimed at breaking up tech companies is not going to be supported by conservatives.
The report from Jim Jordan is likely to focus on the issue of conservative bias, sources said.
Jordan’s response to the majority report is expected to criticize Big Tech for allegedly stifling conservative voices; urge that they be stripped of some protections under Section 230, a federal law that protects internet companies; and call for rigorous enforcement of existing antitrust law, according to a Republican spokesman for the House Judiciary Committee.
Democrats are urging Republicans to sign on to Buck’s response because it is positive with regards to the majority report, according to a source familiar with the matter.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Diane Bartz in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Richard Chang)
