A judge ruled Google is an illegal monopoly! Will you sign the petition to urge the FTC to keep it going and break up Big Tech?

 

No more tech monopolies: Add your name to break up Big Tech!

In July, businesses, airports, hospitals, and more came to a staggering halt when a software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike took down Microsoft systems across the globe, causing the largest IT outage in history.¹

Travelers were left stranded, health care providers struggled to access medical records, surgeries were canceled, payroll systems froze, and TV broadcasters went dark. The outage disabled an estimated 8.5 million computers—and put on display yet again the dangerous consolidation of power in the tech industry.²

As we become increasingly more dependent on technology in our daily lives, we need to rein in corporations and hold them accountable so that we are not subject to even more blackouts, crashes, and disruptions. We need the Federal Trade Commission to step in and break up Big Tech in order to mitigate risks and avoid global outages. Add your name now!

Tell the Federal Trade Commission: It's time to break up Big Tech.

More and more businesses are increasing their dependency on cloud providers like CrowdStrike, which controls nearly 18% of its cybersecurity market. Meanwhile, just three companies—Google, Amazon, and Microsoft—control a whopping 65% of the cloud provider market.³

Big Tech isn't just limited to cloud providers. In Europe, social media giant Meta has faced billions of dollars in fines for violating data privacy concerns.⁴ Meanwhile, Meta continues to monopolize how we engage online and how advertisers reach us. Small businesses are struggling to sell their products on Amazon as fees for sellers keep rising without oversight.⁵

And Google has a monopoly on our searches by choosing what results to show us and what results to demote. But while it can seem intimidating to take on major corporations, just this week there was a major win, with a judge ruling that Google has acted as an illegal monopoly and paving the way for the government to continue to enforce federal antitrust laws.⁶

As long as Big Tech holds onto its monopolies, regulations are harder to enforce, emerging tech companies struggle to compete, and pricing remains controlled by a few CEOs. We can, and must, take action to hold these companies accountable.

With the internet becoming centralized in the hands of four or five big companies, even one breakdown carries huge consequences. Say no more monopolies—add your name now.

July's chaotic global blackout was just a preview into what could happen if a major tech company experienced a similar kind of crash—scenarios could include the global economy being rocked, fulfillment coming to a screeching halt, and people unable to contact loved ones or receive lifesaving care.

We need the FTC to do what it does best: break up Big Tech and stop companies like CrowdStrike from being in a position to debilitate our economy.

Thanks for all you do.

–Nakia, Gabi, Kelsey, Corinne, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "From ATMs to Flights, Epic IT Crash Leaves Trail of Chaos," Bloomberg, July 19, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/195704?t=7&akid=400478%2E3735812%2E63tFOg

2. "CrowdStrike IT outage affected 8.5 million Windows devices, Microsoft says," BBC, July 20, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/195705?t=9&akid=400478%2E3735812%2E63tFOg

3. "Explainer: CrowdStrike Microsoft outage – has the cloud enterprise IT monopoly gone too far?" Verdict, July 22, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/195706?t=11&akid=400478%2E3735812%2E63tFOg

4. "Meta Fined $1.3 Billion for Violating E.U. Data Privacy Rules," The New York Times, May 22, 2023
https://act.moveon.org/go/195707?t=13&akid=400478%2E3735812%2E63tFOg

5. "How Amazon brands are adjusting to a new normal as fee changes squeeze margins," Modern Retail, June 18, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/195708?t=15&akid=400478%2E3735812%2E63tFOg

6. "Google is an illegal monopoly, federal court rules," The Washington Post, August 5, 2024
https://act.moveon.org/go/195709?t=17&akid=400478%2E3735812%2E63tFOg

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