Since Amazon announced last month that it has entered into an agreement to buy venerable Hollywood studio MGM for $8.45 billion, a handful of legislators are sounding the alarm against the deal.
The merger is now under review by the FTC. If the agency allows it to proceed, it will mark the second-biggest acquisition in the tech giant’s history, after Whole Foods, which it acquired in 2017 for $13.7 billion.
It will also give the company control of a massive library of more than 4,000 films and 7,000 television shows, including several properties like “Silence of the Lambs” and older films in the James Bond franchise that have come under fire from feminists and LGBTQ activists. Given the tech giant’s poor record of providing content to the public once special interests complain, there’s reason to worry the company won’t balk at censoring classic films.
Just this week, the Daily Wire reported that Amazon has released a new “inclusion policy” that will shape films and series by new woke standards. Along with discouraging classic “rescue” and “chivalry” storylines, it also requires comedians to refrain from satirizing groups they aren’t members of. The playbook also insists that “movies and series showcase LGBTQ+ and underrepresented romantic partners in stories.” These characters must not exhibit “stereotypes” of the LGBTQ community (a classic 90s sitcom like “Will and Grace” would therefore likely be unacceptable.)
The new policy also says that “each film or series with a creative team of three or more people in above-the-line roles (Directors, Writers, Producers) should ideally include a minimum 30% women and 30% members of an underrepresented racial/ethnic group.”
Of course, Democrats are unlikely to object to Amazon’s desire to engineer storytelling in inauthentically liberal ways. They have their own reasons for objecting to the deal. But their opposition offers one of the few remaining issues in Washington that’s finding true bipartisan support.
Here are six politicians who are trying to throw roadblocks in Amazon’s way:
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO): Hawley has been leading the charge against Big Tech’s power, introducing the “Trust-Busting for the Twenty-First Century Act,” and the “Bust Up Big Tech Act.” Immediately after news of the deal broke, he tweeted, “This sale should not go through. Amazon is already a monopoly platform that owns e-commerce, shipping, groceries & the cloud. They shouldn’t be permitted to buy anything else. Period.”
He later gave an interview to broadcaster Nexstar in which he said, “I think Amazon shouldn’t be able to buy anything more. The idea that they would buy a major entertainment company and further expand their monopoly power into entertainment and news and information, I think that’s particularly dangerous.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA): In a June 28 letter to FTC Chair Lina Kahn, Warren wrote that she is concerned the deal “could harm consumers and workers and reduce innovation by inhibiting competition in numerous markets.”
Warren went on, “I urge you to use the FTC’s broad authority under this law to assess the possible anticompetitive effects this deal will have on streaming services and entertainment products in addition to the broader impacts that this transaction may have on workers, small businesses, and competition overall as Amazon — which is already the dominant e-commerce firm — accelerates its aggressive monopolistic behavior.”
If Amazon has its way, Warren will have sent her letter to the wrong person, however. The company is demanding Kahn, who has been outspoken about Big Tech power in the past, recuse herself from the review, saying, “Given her long track record of detailed pronouncements about Amazon, and her repeated proclamations that Amazon has violated the antitrust laws, a reasonable observer would conclude that she no longer can consider the company’s antitrust defenses with an open mind.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN): Along with Hawley, Klobuchar is one of the Senate leaders cautioning against the merger at this stage, saying in a statement, “This is a major acquisition that has the potential to impact millions of consumers. The Department of Justice must conduct a thorough investigation to ensure that this deal won’t risk harming competition.”
Klobuchar went on to say the deal makes the argument for funding antitrust agencies that investigate multi-billion dollar deals: “This is also a reminder of why we need to fund our antitrust agencies,” she said, “so they can take on investigations of multi-billion dollar deals. Our government cannot ensure major corporations are playing by the rules if enforcement agencies are chronically underfunded. My bipartisan legislation, which recently passed through the Judiciary Committee, would give the antitrust agencies additional resources to conduct rigorous reviews of large mergers.”
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT): Immediately following news of the deal, Lee left his feelings a bit up for interpretation, tweeting only, “Bezos. Jeff Bezos,” a joking reference to MGM giving the billionaire the rights to James Bond. But given that Lee has partnered with Klobuchar in efforts to curb Big Tech’s power through anti-trust legislation, there’s every reason to think he won’t make this merger easy on Amazon.
Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO): Reacting to Amazon’s news, Buck told Time magazine in a statement he plans to introduce legislation that “brings stricter scrutiny on mergers from monopoly companies” to the House floor.
“Big Tech companies with extensive monopoly power, such as Amazon, have continued to expand through acquisitions of smaller competitors, such as MGM,” he said. “The FTC has failed to strongly enforce antitrust laws or hold offenders accountable for the past decade. This hurts competition and consumers.”
Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI): As the House Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman, Cicilline has been leading a wide-ranging investigation of multiple Silicon Valley interests, including Amazon, Facebook, Alphabet, and Apple. Immediately following the MGM news, he posted this comment to Twitter: “Another day. Another mega-merger. Amazon’s proposed purchase of MGM reinforces what we already know — they are laser-focused on expanding and entrenching their monopoly power. That’s bad for workers, consumers, and small businesses.”