In 2018, the lawyer Lina Khan — not even 30 years old at the time — spoke about a new movement in antitrust and competition law that she was key in spearheading: hipster antitrust. The movement was born out of greater scrutiny of the gatekeeping powers that big tech companies like Google and Amazon increasingly had, and a desire to hold them accountable for abusing their dominance.
In a matter of a few years, the movement has gained mainstream appeal not just in the US — where Khan now chairs the Federal Trade Commission — but also, surprisingly, in India. Over the last week, the Competition Commission of India fined MakeMyTrip, Oyo and Google hundreds of millions of dollars for abusing their gatekeeping powers.