Monopolies are going out of fashion as their reputation fails

In the US, the Department of Justice has demanded Google sells Chrome, the world's most popular web browser, as it aims to stop the Silicon Valley keeping its monopoly in online search. It is also looking to break up Meta claiming that it bought Instagram and WhatsApp to end competition in social media. At the same time, the US Senate has accused Visa and Mastercard of monopolising the credit card market and wants caps on fees and rates.

We don’t yet know what the incoming President, Donald Trump is going to do but he did say last month, “Google has been very bad, they’ve been very irresponsible, and I have a feeling that Google is going to be close to shut down, because I don’t think Congress is going to take it,” However, he praised Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for him calling him after his assassination attempt. This suggests a less than strategic approach to competition. Across the Atlantic, the EU has long had its eyes on curbing the power of the big tech giants.

This is all going to descend into endless lawsuits, aggressive lobbying and huge sums of money spent on PR people to fight back. Whatever happens, it does feel that maybe the tide is turning on the titans of US business. 

There is a historical precedent for this, and the causes are very similar. At the beginning of twentieth century, President Theodore Roosevelt set about breaking up trusts, combinations of corporations that came to dominate certain aspects of US business, such as the railroads, forcing up prices, and battling with unions over wages.  These were the Googles, Amazons and Metas of their time.

Roosevelt, a man who once carried on speaking for almost an hour after being shot in the chest said that businesses had a responsibility to act in the public interest. He thought corporations should contribute positively to society rather than exploit it through monopolistic practices, unfair pricing, or environmental degradation.  His presidency was marked by violent labour disputes caused by low wages, and employers battling unions.  Roosevelt wasn’t against big business but was focused on their behaviour and believed they “should not be allowed to do harm to the body politic.”  

He remarked: ““We can do nothing of good in the way of regulating and supervising these corporations until we fix clearly in our minds that we are not attacking the corporations but endeavouring to do away with any evil in them. We are not hostile to them; we are merely determined that they shall be so handled as to subserve the public good. We draw the line against misconduct, not against wealth.”

In the eyes of many, the likes of Google, Meta, and Visa are damaging the body politic.  People think Facebook is awash with misinformation and misusing data. Visa/Mastercard charge small businesses higher fees than Walmart.  Google is said to be making life hard for businesses and publishers, prioritising its own products and content. In 2018, Google's former unofficial motto, "Don't Be Evil," was removed from its code of conduct. Amazon is seen as a payer of low wages and fighting unions that demand change.

Companies will have a strong defence to all the claims, but we are at the stage, where the reputation of these businesses is such, that politicians feel emboldened to take them on. 

An old boss, Tim Bell, would say “We are all judged in the court of public opinion”, and public opinion is turning. These huge tech companies were once seen as bright, disruptive organisations that were going to change the world for the better. Much like the mega corporations that Roosevelt took on. These big companies will be around for a while yet, making big profits, but maybe we can see their twilight years coming.