Bipartisan lawmakers, led by Senators Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, and Chuck Grassley, a Republican, intend to launch legislation that would prohibit Big Tech platforms, such as Amazon and Alphabet's Google from endorsing their own products and services over those of their competitors.
Several companies, including Amazon, have been accused of collecting data from third-party sellers to select what products to develop.
After evaluating thousands of internal Amazon documents, Reuters reported Wednesday that the company's India businesses operated a systematic campaign of creating counterfeits and manipulating search results in order to enhance its own private brands in the country, which is one of the company's fastest-growing markets. Amazon has denied the allegations.
The latest legislation is one of a flurry of measures presented in the U.S. Congress with the goal of reining in technology companies, including industry titans Facebook and Apple.
At this point, none have been made into law, although one of them, a larger plan to improve resources for antitrust enforcement, has been enacted by the Senate.
The proposed measure is expected to be submitted as early as next week, according to Klobuchar's office, and would serve as an attachment to a bill that has already passed the House Judiciary Committee.
Specifically, the legislation introduced by Klobuchar and Grassley would bar platforms from pressuring companies operating on their sites to purchase the platform's goods or services, and it would prohibit them from biasing search results in favor of the platform.
"As dominant digital platforms - some of the largest corporations the world has ever known - increasingly give preference to their own products and services, we must put policies in place to ensure that small businesses and entrepreneurs continue to have the opportunity to succeed in the digital marketplace," Klobuchar said in a statement.
"We must ensure that small businesses and entrepreneurs continue to have the opportunity to succeed in the digital marketplace," the senator said.
Krobuchar heads the antitrust subcommittee in the Senate Judiciary Committee, while Grassley leads the full committee as the top Republican.
Among the co-sponsors are Democrats such as Senator Dick Durbin, who chairs the full Judiciary Committee, as well as Republican Sens. John Kennedy, Lindsey Graham, Cynthia Lummis and Josh Hawley.
