Small browsers can compete with Big Tech with forthcoming bill

• US Congress discusses bill that will level playing field for small browsers.
• Bill, if approved, to prevent Big Tech companies from self-promoting their browsers on their products.
• 5b internet users worldwide normally use default browsers on their laptops, phones.

The US Congress is currently discussing The American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA), a bill that will level the playing field for small browsers like Opera and DuckDuckGo against tech giants with “default browsers” like Google, Microsoft and Apple.

The effort is led by Senators Amy Klobuchar and Chuck Grassley and Representatives David Cicilline and Ken Buck.

If approved, the bill will prevent Big Tech companies from self-promoting their browsers on their products and, in turn, decentralise two decades of digital centralisation so that smaller browsers can finally compete with browser giants, TechRadar reported.

As of right now, the five billion internet users worldwide normally use and stick with default browsers on their laptops and phones. Default browsers, like Safari on Apple iPhones for example, keep users from easily installing and keeping other browsers, which puts smaller browsers at a disadvantage.

“On Android right now, it takes fifteen-plus clicks to change the default search engine, but we really think that should be one click,” Gabriel Weinberg, CEO at DuckDuckGo, told TechRadar. 

“If this kind of system were in place, we could be five or ten times bigger today.”

The AICOA bill is likely to come into effect in the upcoming years, allowing small browsers like DuckDuckGo to compete with default giants, and most importantly, explore their full potential.