President Biden's new executive order "on Promoting Competition in the American Economy,on Promoting Competition in the American Economy," talks a big game on promoting competition across the U.S. For the tech portions of the document, it's not clear how much walk there is to follow up the talk — but already, advocates are hopeful that it means a more free and open internet.

The order, which Biden signed Friday, basically says the federal government will make curtailing monopolistic and unfair business practices a priority from here on out. The document covers a wide swath of economic issues, from international trade to agricultural workers' rights to prescription drug costs. Antitrust experts agree that it sends a clear signal to big business: The times, they are a-changin'.

"What they said today was 'we're going to use every single power within the executive branch to deal with concentration of power in powerful corporations'," says Barry Lynn, an antitrust expert and executive director of the Open Markets Institute. "This was a statement of principle, a statement of intent."

Several sections in the order relate to powerful tech companies. This is no surprise: Breaking up big tech has been a hot topic at the FTCFTC, in CongressCongress, and in federal and state departments of justicefederal and state departments of justice for some years. But the executive order goes far beyond the scope of those investigations. It wants internet service providers to allow for more consumer choice and pricing transparency. It wants the FCC to restore net neutrality; it wants new rules governing surveillance and data collection by internet companies; it throws the president's weight behind the right to repair movementright to repair movement.

And, yes, it says the government will look at unfair business practices among internet giants, like privileging their own products in online marketplaces or making competition-killing mergers — which could be reversed.

But how big of an impact will this order actually have on the internet? Executive orders are directives a president makes to executive departments (like the Department of Transportation or Agriculture), independent agencies (like the FCC or the FTC), and other independent government bodies (like the Department of Justice and Congress). The tech provisions mostly fall under the purview of independent agencies and the Department of Justice, whom Biden can't force to do anything.

Still, there's a good chance — especially on provisions like pursuing antitrust cases, and writing and enforcing net neutrality and privacy laws — that what the executive order demands will come to fruition.

Hours after the White House released the executive order fact sheet, the FTC published the responsethe response of newly installed chair Lina Khan. It says the department will be reviewing merger guidelines, and potentially revising them, if they are determined to be"overly permissive." This is in step with the order's "policy of greater scrutiny of mergers, especially by dominant internet platforms." Of particular concern: "The acquisition of nascent competitors, serial mergers, the accumulation of data, competition by 'free' products, and the effect on user privacy."

The FTC had already begun work on new data privacy rules, which would strengthen its ability for enforcement actions against tech companies that collect users' personal information. Berkeley Law professor James Dempsey says the fact that the executive order referred to data collection as surveillance was "significant."

"The president is saying, 'yes, do what you were going to do,'"Dempsey said, referring to the FTC rules on data collection. "What's notable here is the rhetorical emphasis on surveillance and the accumulation of data — which is really not the way that executive branch officials previously talked about tech company data practices."

The executive order also signals that strong action is coming down the pike on internet providers. It...