Contrary to common belief, large digital platforms that deal directly with consumers, such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, are not “winner-take-all” firms. They must compete on the merits or otherwise rely on exclusionary practices to attain or maintain dominance, and this gives antitrust policy a role. While regulation may be appropriate in a few areas such as for consumer privacy, antitrust’s firm-specific approach is more adept at addressing most threats to platform competition.
When platforms exert their market power over other firms, liability may be apt, but remedies
present another puzzle. For the several pending antitrust complaints against Google and Facebook,
for instance, what should be the remedy if there is a violation? Breaking up large firms that benefit
from extensive economies of scale and scope will injure consumers and most input suppliers, including the employees who supply labor.