Hillicon Valley — Democrats tackle mega mergers

Today is Wednesday. Welcome to Hillicon Valley, detailing all you need to know about tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. Subscribe here: digital-release.thehill.com/newsletter-signup. 

Follow The Hill’s tech team, Chris Mills Rodrigo (@millsrodrigo) and Rebecca Klar (@rebeccaklar_), and cyber reporter Ines Kagubare (@ineskagubare) for more coverage. 

Democrats introduced a new antitrust bill that would give antitrust enforcers more agency to block and break up large mergers.  

Meanwhile, Instagram rolled out new supervisory tools for parents to track their teens’ activity.  

Let’s jump into the news. 

 

New antitrust bill on the block

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), introduced a bill Wednesday that would give federal antitrust enforcers greater power to block and break up mergers.  

The Prohibiting Anticompetitive Mergers Act would allow the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice to reject large merger deals without a court order. It would also give the government power to retroactively break up deals that resulted in a market share above 50 percent or “materially harmed” competition, workers, consumers, or small or minority-owned businesses.  

Who’s in: The proposal is backed by a coalition of progressives in both chambers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.), and follows a series of proposals introduced in Congress targeting the market power of tech giants. 

And who’s not: Several antitrust reform bills have made their way out of committee in the House and Senate, but none have passed a full chamber. The Warren and Jones proposal may also face a tough road ahead. The bill lacks any GOP sponsors, and it is also notably missing Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), the chairs of the Senate and House antitrust panels, among the list of co-sponsors. 

Read more about the bill.  

 

Track your teens

Instagram on Wednesday morning launched a “Family Center” with supervisory tools for parents to track their children’s time and activity on the platform.  

In the new Family Center, parents will be able to view how much time their teens spend on Instagram and set time limits. 

They will also be able to monitor their teen’s use on the platform, including being able to view and receive updates on what accounts their teens follow and the accounts that follow their teens. 

Instagram will also let parents set notifications for when their teens share they’ve reported someone. 

Read more about the updates.  

 

SURCHARGES STARTING NEXT WEEK

Lyft announced Wednesday that it will add a $0.55 fuel surcharge to the price of each ride starting next week in an effort to help its drivers offset rising fuel costs. 

The company told The Hill in an email that the full amount will go directly to drivers.  

In a statement, the company said, “Recent gas price increases are making all types of transportation more expensive. And this has a direct effect on drivers. So, starting next week, Lyft is adding a $0.55 fuel surcharge to each ride that’ll go directly from riders to drivers—100% of it.” 

Read more here.  

 

BITS AND PIECES

An op-ed to chew on: The internet is on the verge of the next fundamental change  

Lighter click: the hardest worker in news 

Notable links from around the web: 

The grassroots giant: How Google became a lobbying powerhouse (Protocol / Ben Brody) 

Has Ukraine “Won the Information War”? Not So Fast. (Mother Jones / Ali Breland) 

Ukrainian Influencers Bring The Frontlines To TikTok (The Verge / Mia Sato) 

 

VIRTUAL EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

The Future of Education—Thursday, March 17 at 1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT

After two years of virtual and hybrid learning, many students are still playing catch up. The federal government has provided billions of dollars in relief funds to school districts across the country. How have state officials been using these funds and how can equity issues be tackled? Join us at The Hill’s annual Future of Education Summit for headliner conversations with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.) and Govs. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and Chris Sununu (R-N.H.). Save your spot here.

 

One last thing: Officials may provide drones

Biden administration is weighing supplying Ukraine with killer drones called Switchblades that can pinpoint personnel and military equipment accurately, NBC News reported, citing two congressional officials briefed on the matter. 

Manufacturer AeroVironment has previously sold two types of Switchblades to the U.S. Special Operations Command: the Switchblade 300 and Switchblade 600, the network noted. The 300 is used for targeting personnel, while the 600 is used for targeting equipment like armored vehicles, such as tanks.  

The 600 can travel up to 50 miles and for as long as 40 minutes, NBC reported, citing the manufacturer. The set up time for the drones can take just minutes and they can be programmed to aim at targets miles away. 

Read more here.  

 

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s technology and cybersecurity pages for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you Thursday.