Big Tech is escaping similar scrutiny in the US, which is a considerable dilution of oversight since the landmark ruling against Microsoft allowed the present crop of technology giants to acquire their dominance. The bar in the US antitrust investigations is set higher in terms of harm to the consumer, and free services that are overwhelming the internet tend to get off easily. Then there is the argument that technology companies make over delivering innovation, which remains by and large a Silicon Valley monopoly. US administrations have taken various lines, from Barack Obama‘s emphatic defence of American technology firms to Donald Trump‘s trust-busting rhetoric. Commercial interest creeps into the transatlantic regulatory arbitrage over the internet.
The balance will be tilted by how the rest of the world interprets innovation versus dominance. Technology permits a breathtaking pace of concentration of market power, and countries are in the process of equipping themselves with the laws to protect their consumers. Giant technology companies, on their part, will have to take their cue from legislative constraints imposed across the globe. Antitrust action can work as a trade barrier for the digital economy. Dispersing innovation across markets and economies would be one way to counter this.