Apple CEO Tim Cook personally lobbying Senate Judiciary Committee as antitrust threats loom

Apple is ramping up its efforts to oppose legislation targeting big tech companies in the United States. As reported by Punchbowl News, Apple CEO Tim Cook has personally been calling and meeting with senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee to voice opposition to the American Innovation and Choice Online Act.

As the report explains, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to meet and mark up the American Innovation and Choice Online Act on Thursday. This legislation was first introduced by Senators Amy Klobuchar and Chuck Grassley.

The bill would aim to reign in big tech companies including Apple, Google, and others by setting guidelines that protect competition and users alike. It would also “prohibit dominant platforms from abusing their gatekeeper power by favoring their own products or services, disadvantaging rivals or discriminating among businesses that use their platforms in a way that harms competition on the platform.”

Other tentpoles of the legislation include:

• Preventing another business’s product or service from interoperating with the dominant platform or another business;
• Requiring a business to buy a dominant platform’s goods or services for preferred placement on its platform;
• Misusing a business’s data to compete against it; and 
• Biasing search results in favor of the dominant firm. 

This is not the first time that we’ve heard of Tim Cook personally lobbying lawmakers in regards to antitrust legislation. In fact, it was widely reported last year that Cook had directly called Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to voice concern about looming antitrust legislation.

Apple isn’t the only tech company to voice opposition to the American Innovation and Choice Online Act. Other companies including Microsoft, Google, Twitter, Spotify, and Amazon have also revealed that they are lobbying on the proposal, according to Punchbowl.