Sherrod Brown: Government ‘hasn’t been nearly aggressive enough on anti-trust issues’ with tech companies

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said Wednesday he believes the government has not done a sufficient job of enforcing anti-trust laws, but was noncommittal about breaking up tech giants.

Brown was asked on BuzzFeed’s “AM to DM” if the government should break up big tech companies like Amazon and Facebook.

{mosads}”I don’t know,” Brown responded. “I would say this: I’m not a lawyer, but I have noticed that over the years government hasn’t been nearly aggressive enough on anti-trust issues.”

He pointed to airline mergers in recent years that he said have hurt his constituents in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus by driving up prices, affecting jobs and leading to fewer direct flights.

Brown also cited Democrats’ push to uphold net neutrality, and said the approach to big tech companies should be similar. 

“Net neutrality was obviously a really important issue that the progressives, as I did, stood strong with users not with these companies,” he said. “And I think we follow that construct when we decide what to do on all of this.”

About to go live on @BuzzFeed’s @AM2DM, talking about GM’s layoffs and what we need to do next. Tune in: https://t.co/Ae7ckWc1el

— Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) November 28, 2018

Facebook has come under government scrutiny in recent months, particularly over data privacy scandals and its handling of Russian influence campaigns on the platform. Google and Twitter have faced questions over the latter issue, as well.

Some progressive lawmakers have also targeted Amazon over its wages and working conditions. 

Brown, who won reelection this month in Ohio, has said he is weighing a potential run for the White House in 2020.