The American Booksellers Association "strongly opposes any potential acquisition of TikTok by Amazon," CEO Allison Hill wrote in a letter yesterday to the Justice Department. She urged the Department "to thoroughly investigate any proposal involving Amazon acquiring TikTok and to take decisive action to block it, should it arise. Preserving TikTok as an independent platform is essential to maintaining a competitive landscape in e-commerce, bookselling, and beyond, ensuring that consumers and businesses alike benefit from a diverse, dynamic, and fair marketplace."
Amazon has been named one of the potential suitors for TikTok, which by law needs to be shut down if it continues to be Chinese-owned. Vice President JD Vance said a plan would be announced tomorrow, according to the New York Times. Yesterday President Trump said the administration is close to a deal with "a very good group of people." That deal, the Times continued, may involve spinning TikTok into a new company that would include U.S. investors such as private equity and venture capital firms Blackstone, Andreessen Horowitz, and Silver Lake.
But Amazon is still interested. If the company prevails, the effect on the book world would be highly detrimental, Hill stated. She wrote, "Amazon's market share in the bookselling industry makes it, by any antitrust standard, a monopoly. An Amazon takeover of TikTok would prevent a fair market, deter healthy competition and innovation, and further entrench Amazon's monopoly power to the detriment of consumers, competition, and innovation. Amazon already has a chokehold on e-commerce--controlling a substantial share of online retail and dominating the bookselling market--and cloud computing and digital advertising--creating a sprawling network that competitors struggle to challenge."
"If Amazon were to acquire TikTok, it would not only eliminate its emerging rival--TikTok is a formidable player in e-commerce, empowering creators and small businesses to reach consumers directly--but also control TikTok's vast user data and algorithms, integrating it all into Amazon's existing operations. This would amplify Amazon's ability to manipulate markets, lock in customers, and squeeze out competitors--particularly in e-commerce, where TikTok's influence is expanding, and in bookselling, where Amazon could leverage TikTok's platform and its 'BookTok' community to tighten its stranglehold on the book industry. The long-term result will mean fewer choices for consumers, decline in sales for small businesses, and a loss in sales tax revenue and jobs for communities.
"Since the entire book industry is dependent on TikTok to drive sales and attract readers--and many independent bookstores rely on TikTok for their businesses to connect with readers, promote titles, and drive sales--an Amazon takeover of TikTok would force independent bookstores to allow their main competitor access to their analytics or to abandon an important and growing market channel. Moreover, Amazon would control the algorithms, prioritizing their own books or partnerships while de-prioritizing their competitors such as independent bookstores. Amazon's further monopolization of the book market would not only potentially increase prices for consumers as it does with any competitors, but it would also give too much power over authors and readers to a single corporation, reducing the range of books available and consumers' choice."
The letter is addressed to Abigail Slater, Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department, whose appointment was confirmed last month. Before that, she served as economic policy adviser to then-Senator JD Vance and was on the National Economic Council during the first Trump administration. She also worked as an antitrust lawyer at the Federal Trade Commission for 10 years as well as at law firm Freshfields, Fox Corporation, and Roku.