Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) have teamed up to produce an antitrust measure aimed at Big Tech, which the Senate will discuss on Thursday.
The Open App Markets Act, or Bill S.2710, is aimed squarely at Apple and Google, two firms that mediate access to applications for the vast majority of mobile phone users via the Google Play store And Apple Store, respectively. The proposed regulation would bar firms from favoring their own in-house apps over competitors, allowing third-party app shops to flourish.
One of the most common ways for digital businesses to exercise influence over platforms they don't own is through app store access. Tumblr and Telegram were both banned by Apple at various stages in 2018, claiming the availability of child pornography on both sites as the basis for their removal. Both of these apps have since been re-released on the App Store. Tumblr's imposition of a global restriction on adult material, which was attacked by progressive media sites, was largely regarded as a result of this decision.
19 Jan 2022
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