Anti-tech legislation, like Sen. Klobuchar’s American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA), would harm American small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) by destroying many of the free and affordable digital tools and services these businesses rely on to grow, compete and succeed.

Small business owners and groups from across the country have raised numerous concerns about these bills: 

1. Bills like the AICOA would lead to leading tech companies “curtailing or eliminating many free or low-cost services and technologies that small, Black-owned businesses use due to new regulations,” says Dar’shun Kendrick, a Georgia House Representative and small business owner.

2. A new Connected Commerce Council report finds digital tools “help level the playing field for all Americans, as they disproportionately help diverse SMB leaders work more efficiently, drive more revenue, and create more jobs.”

3. The proposed anti-tech legislation would “make it impossible for Amazon to offer its Prime free shipping service on millions of products, many of which are from small and medium-sized businesses,” cautions Karen Kerrigan, President of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.

4. Anti-tech legislation fails to recognize that “small businesses have been able to leverage technology developed from larger organizations to their advantage, helping them to continue to compete and break through in a flooded marketplace,” writes James Greaves, CEO of Brand Makers.