12 fight Big Tech breakup

A dozen former top national-security officials, several of whom are paid by Google and Facebook, are urging Congress to pump the brakes on antitrust bills that could lead to breaking up Big Tech companies.

They argue the measures could undermine the US in its competition with China.

The former officials — including ex-CIA Director and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and intelligence chief Dan Coats — warned in a letter to congressional leaders published by Axios that “Congress risks undermining America’s key advantage visà-vis China.”

The letter responds to a series of bipartisan bills introduced over the summer that could make it harder for the biggest tech platforms to complete mergers and keep them from owning businesses that create conflicts of interest.

But at least three of the 12 people who signed the letter failed to mention their work for organizations funded in part by Big Tech companies.

Matt Stoller, an antitrust expert and former senior adviser to the Senate Budget Committee, said there is no evidence that antitrust bills would hurt national security — and argued that a lack of competition among US tech firms has actually given China an advantage.