Going After Big Tech Is One Thing Global Leaders Agree On

The U.S. and China don’t agree on much these days. Germany and France share a border and a currency but are frequently at odds. The U.K. and India like to march to their own drum. But there’s one issue on which all these countries see eye to eye: Technology companies are too big, too powerful, and too profitable. And that power is only likely to intensify, leaving governments with no choice but to confront it head-on by taking the companies to court, passing new competition laws, and perhaps even breaking up the tech giants.

China is the latest to implement an antitrust crackdown, unveiling anti-monopoly rules last month that wiped $290 billion off the stock market valuation of China’s biggest companies in two days. The draft rules followed the surprise suspension of a $37 billion stock offering by billionaire Jack Ma’s fintech powerhouse Ant Group Co., making clear that no company can evade the government’s crosshairs. The moves in China coincide with accelerating efforts in the U.S. and Europe to rein in Amazon.com, Apple, Facebook, and Google.