CThey are two powerful women, often unloved, who have at least one thing in common: they are the bêtes noires of the major American digital platforms. One is leaving Brussels, the other is in the hot seat in Washington. Margrethe Vestager was not selected by Denmark to continue in Ursula von der Leyen's team her work as Commissioner for Competition, one of the most strategic positions in the European administration; Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the American antitrust agency, is in the crosshairs of Big Tech bosses, including pro-Democrats, who are demanding her head from Kamala Harris − already on the chopping block of Republican Donald Trump.
During her ten-year term (2014-2024), the inflexible Dane has made life difficult for Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft (Gafam), tracking down their multiple obstacles to real competition and their aggressive tax planning. She has suffered many setbacks and won successes. She will leave with a victory, while she had “prepared for defeat” : The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled without appeal on Tuesday, September 10, that Apple's paltry taxation in Ireland between 2003 and 2014 was illegal state aid and that Apple will have to pay 13 billion euros to Ireland. However influential he may be, its boss, Tim Cook, does not have the power to oust Mme Vestager.
Lina Khan is much more exposed. Hailed as “bold” In Brussels, her nomination by Joe Biden as head of the FTC in 2021 was seen as a declaration of war by Big Tech. Just think, she wanted nothing less than to dismantle them, like Standard Oil, American Tobacco or AT&T before them. While still a student at Yale, and starting from the “Amazon case” in e-commerce, she denounced the inadequacy of antitrust laws, the lack of regulation since the 1980s and the doxa that the market corrects any monopolistic temptation by itself. For a large number of bosses and investors, she has become “Wall Street's number one enemy”.
Ambitious regulatory policy
What will Kamala Harris do if she enters the White House? Two major donors, LinkedIn founder and CEO Reid Hoffman and media tycoon Barry Diller, have denounced her reading “aggressive” antitrust laws, which would hinder the smooth running of business. Microsoft does not forgive her for having tried to torpedo the acquisition of the video game publisher Activision, Facebook for contesting the absorption of Instagram and WhatsApp, Amazon for having filed a complaint for monopolistic practices. Her reappointment or ouster will have symbolic value. More sensitive than the outgoing president to the demands of the Silicon Valley giants, the former senator from California may be tempted to give them assurances, even if she knows the unpopularity of Gafam.
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Source: Lemonde
