Newly uncovered emails shed light on the close relationships between tech giants Google and Amazon and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) as the companies sought to undermine overseas regulations, including efforts to protect traditional media outlets.
The New York Post reports that the advocacy group Demand Progress has accused Google and Amazon of attempting to “hijack U.S. trade policy” for their own benefit, maintaining a “revolving door” relationship with the USTR. The report is based on a tranche of emails exchanged between Google and Amazon executives and USTR officials from May 2023 through April 2024, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
One notable email exchange from May 2023 reveals how Google sought to enlist the USTR in its fight against Canada’s Online News Act, which requires Google and Facebook parent Meta to pay publishers for displaying their content online. Google’s head of trade policy, Nicholas Bramble, requested a meeting with three USTR staffers to discuss “upcoming developments on Canada.” The meeting took place just four business days later, and the USTR’s Andrea Boron asked Google to share their public comments detailing objections and concerns about the Online News Act.
Google provided links to a “list of key concerns and proposed amendments” that they had shared with Canadian lawmakers, as well as a transcript of public testimony in which a Google executive warned that the company would “reconsider” offering news content in Canada if the law took effect. Despite Google’s efforts to weaken or kill the bill, the company ultimately cut a last-minute deal with Canada in November 2023, agreeing to pay $74 million to media outlets while securing the right to negotiate with a consortium of local news outlets rather than individual entities.
The emails also reveal instances of Amazon leveraging its ties with the agency. In August 2023, the USTR’s Danielle Fumagalli sought input from Amazon and Google staffers regarding a proposal in Japan aimed at helping domestic cloud-computing firms compete for government contracts. Fumagalli’s email to Amazon was addressed to Mary Thornton, who had previously worked as a director at the USTR before joining Amazon as the head of trade and export controls policy for the company’s cloud unit.
Critics argue that Big Tech firms are using their influence over the USTR and other federal agencies to shape lenient regulatory policies that protect their interests at the expense of smaller competitors. If successful, this effort could undermine future attempts by Congress or individual states to pass anti-monopoly laws
Read more at the New York Post here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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