By Emily Birnbaum, Politico
Legislation targeting Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple would hurt Hispanic business owners. An overhaul of antitrust laws would harm Black-owned newspapers. A bill targeting online sales of counterfeit goods would hurt people of color in the same way as voter ID laws.
These are some of the arguments that lawmakers considering tougher regulations on the tech industry are hearing from groups representing Black and Hispanic businesses — including several groups with financial backing from the nation’s wealthiest online companies.
At least six such groups advancing these arguments receive funding from or have close partnerships with Google, Amazon and Facebook’s parent company Meta, according to public financial disclosures. The tech companies, along with trade associations they belong to, are amplifying those messages as they seek to combat bipartisan regulatory proposals in both houses of Congress.
