Is Big Tech Getting Too Big? A Legal Look at Market Power

In the last two decades, technology has transformed from being merely a tool of convenience to becoming the very architecture on which modern life rests.

- RITIKA GOSWAMI

From social interactions and digital payments to shopping and news consumption, a handful of technology companies dominate almost every digital sphere. Their scale, reach, and power have occasioned an urgent worldwide debate: is Big Tech becoming too powerful, and if it is, what should the law do about it?

The Scale of Big Tech Power The market capitalization of such businesses competes with the GDP of medium-sized countries. Apple's valuation in 2025 hit $3.6 trillion, while Microsoft reached $3.5 trillion, for instance. Google and Amazon each dominate systems so immense that consumers are often unable to envision daily life without them. Meta dominates close to three billion monthly active users across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. These numbers are not merely astonishing; they point to concentration of power at an unprecedented level.

Market power in traditional economics meant monopolies on products like oil, steel, or railroads. Now it's about dominance of data, algorithms, platforms, and digital ecosystems. They are now custodians of information, markets, and even political discussion. When a few companies dictate terms to billions of consumers, the legal framework is forced to ask if current regulatory regimes are up to the job.

Competition Law Under Strain Competition law, antitrust in American parlance, was constructed on foundations laid in the industrial period. The Sherman Act of 1890 in the U.S. or India's Competition Act of 2002 aimed to thwart collusion, cartels, and monopolies. Big Tech firms, however, don't easily fit into classical traditional categories. They provide free service while monetizing data and advertising. They acquire start-ups in the guise of innovation but actually pre-empt future competition. They also create ecosystems that lock-in users, consider Apple's App Store conditions or Amazon's vertical control of logistics, retail, and cloud services.