Media Contact: media@colorofchange.org
For Immediate Release: October 7, 2020
Color Of Change Responds to US House Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Report
NATIONWIDE – Following the release of the nearly 500-page antitrust report by the US House Judiciary Committee that concludes Facebook, Amazon, Google and Apple hold monopoly power and engage in anti-competitive behavior, Color Of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, released the following statement from President Rashad Robinson:
“The antitrust report is a significant step forward in holding Big Tech accountable for its monopolistic practices and abuses of power. The report hammers home what Color Of Change and our allies have been warning for years: Big Tech companies like Facebook and Amazon have grown too powerful.
The unfettered growth of these companies has created immeasurable harm to Black people — from driving the racial wealth gap by exploiting Black labor and talent, to erasing Black-owned businesses, to collecting predatory data that fuels price gouging and excludes Black communities from equitable employment, credit, and housing opportunities.
The stakes online, in the voting booth, and on our streets are too high and require serious intervention. That’s why Color Of Change has engaged with Facebook since 2015 on issues stemming from the company’s unchecked power, including its repeated failure to stop the proliferation of hate and misinformation on the platform, its monopolistic governance structure, and its lack of attention to equity and representation among its senior leadership.
Despite our consistent attempts to push the world’s largest social media platform to take proactive steps to mitigate harms against our communities, far too often, we are met with lackluster responses and empty gestures that amount to platitudes and PR stunts. We cannot wait for Facebook to self-regulate nor can we put the burden on non-government actors to enact systemic changes to the incentive structure of these behemoth companies.
The new antitrust report marks an important milestone, and lawmakers must now give it teeth. We stand by the House Judiciary Committee’s calls for antitrust reform and are ready to work with Congress to create policies that will truly reign in Big Tech’s power and help protect our communities.
But establishing strong antitrust laws and robust antitrust enforcement is only the first step towards a better internet for Black people. We’ll also need strong privacy legislation with civil rights considerations to ensure companies cannot collect data and use them to discriminate against Black people.
Civil rights and racial justice need to be at the center of how we think about holding Big Tech companies accountable to do the right thing, bring more inclusion to the table, and implement the policies and practices that are going to allow Black voices to flourish online, in the marketplace, and in our democracy.”
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About Color Of Change:
Color Of Change is the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. We help people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by over 7 million members, we move decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America. Visit www.colorofchange.org.