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US Presidential Election 2020
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US Senator Elizabeth Warren in Washington on January 17. Photo: TNS

Democrat presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren wants to break up Google, Facebook and Amazon

  • ‘They’ve bulldozed competition, used our private information for profit, and tilted the playing field against everyone else,’ said the senator
Senator Elizabeth Warren said on Friday that if elected as US president she would seek to break up tech companies Amazon, Alphabet’s Google and Facebook as part of a structural change to the sector aimed at promoting competition.

Warren, who is seeking to stand out in a Democratic field crowded with progressives, said in a blog post that the companies have been allowed to purchase potential competitors, like Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram.

 

“They’ve bulldozed competition, used our private information for profit, and tilted the playing field against everyone else. And in the process, they have hurt small businesses and stifled innovation,” Warren wrote.

Amazon shares fell 1.5 per cent and Facebook and Alphabet shares were down 0.6 per cent in morning trade on Friday.

Warren said she would nominate regulators who would unwind mergers such as Facebook’s deals for WhatsApp and Instagram, Amazon’s deals for Whole Foods and Zappos, and Google’s purchase of Waze, Nest and DoubleClick.

Amazon, Google and Facebook did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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