Today, 50 states and territories announced they are opening an antitrust investigation into Google and its parent company, Alphabet. Alphabet also confirmed last week that it is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice. Eight states and DC also announced last week that they are beginning an antitrust investigation into Facebook as well.
The following can be attributed to Charlotte Slaiman, Senior Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge:
“It is now clear that a number of states, as well as our two antitrust enforcement agencies, are taking the power of digital platforms seriously. For too long, the substantial and persistent market power of these companies has gone largely unexamined. Opening these antitrust investigations is an important and powerful step forward. Antitrust enforcement in this space can help consumers and innovative competitors access markets for platforms that are more fair and more competitive.
“To truly unlock the potential of these industries through competition, Congress must act, too. We need new pro-competition regulations and a dedicated regulatory authority to enforce them. We have seen in the past that antitrust is only a piece of the puzzle. This is particularly true in digital platforms, which suffer from the lock-in of network effects and other incumbency advantages, making them particularly difficult to fix through antitrust alone.”
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