The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Southwest Virginia hard, and the health of our people and local economy have yet to recover. Small businesses, in particular, have struggled tremendously during COVID, and unfortunately, Big Tech has only exacerbated those struggles.
Walk down any Main Street in any Southwest Virginia small town, and it becomes clear that Big Tech companies, such as Amazon and Google, have taken advantage of COVID to decimate their competition. Vibrant, local economies have been replaced by empty storefronts. Companies like Amazon have taken advantage of stay-at-home orders, increasing their services to almost instant deliveries, resulting in the closure of 200,000 small businesses.
However, Congress can act now to undo the damage.
Before Congress is a package of six antitrust bills targeting Big Tech. The goal of this legislation is to overhaul our outdated antitrust laws in order to hold Big Tech accountable for devastating competition and hurting consumers. I urge Congress to act before more small businesses across our community, Commonwealth, and nation are forced to shutter their doors.
Jenni Gallagher is the chair of the Montgomery County Democratic Party.
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