Washington:
Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal has been named vice chair of the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law.
Chennai-born Jayapal, 55, from the Democratic Party, will oversee the subcommittee’s urgent work on antitrust, large tech, reining in anti-competitive behaviour, assisting protect against monopolistic practices, defending a totally free press, and enabling innovation to thrive.
Ms Jayapal, the only Indian-American lady in the House of Representatives, has been a major voice on the committee, exactly where she most lately played an active part in conducting America”s initially significant congressional antitrust investigation in decades, a media release stated.
“I am honoured to lead the House Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law at a pivotal moment in which we must write the next chapter of antitrust law,” Jayapal stated in a statement.
“That’s how we will finally hold dominant tech platforms accountable while advocating for workers, stopping hate and misinformation, and protecting a free press,” she stated.
“By reasserting the power of Congress and using our historic investigation as a roadmap, we will continue the work necessary to rein in anti-competitive behaviour, help prevent monopolistic practices, protect local and independent journalism, and allow innovation to thrive,” Jayapal stated on Wednesday.
In July, Jayapal questioned the CEOs of 3 dominant tech platforms.
She asked former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos about how the tech giant utilizes third party seller information. She also questioned Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on how the social networking giant harvests and monetises user information and then utilizes it to copy, obtain, and kill rivals, the media release stated.
Additionally, Jayapal asked Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai about the company”s total handle of the ad marketplace as the owner of the marketplace, the ad purchaser, and the ad seller, which has damaging effects on the neighborhood and independent journalism important for our democracy to thrive.
The hearing was aspect of the Antitrust Subcommittee’s more than 16-month investigation into the state of competitors in the digital economy.
“I can say conclusively that self-regulation by Big Tech comes at the expense of our communities, small businesses, consumers, the free press, and innovation,” she stated soon after the investigation”s findings had been released in October.
In December, Jayapal was elected as the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), producing her one of the most highly effective US lawmakers in the 117th Congress.