Big Tech facing these US antitrust cases

Big Tech facing these US antitrust cases

With 38 states in the US suing Google, the list of investigations and major cases against Big Tech has grown longer.

On October 20, the US Justice Department sued Google over its anti-competitive ploys to maintain a monopoly for its leading search engine business.

On December 9, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Facebook Inc. over its anti-competitive tactics of buying and freezing out small start-ups. The FTC demand is that FB undo its WhatsApp and Instagram acquisitions.

In the latest move, an antitrust suit has been filed against Google by 10 states led by Texas over an unlawful monopoly in digital advertising and signing up rival Facebook for rigging ad auctions.

A group of 46 states, along with the district of Guam and Columbia, on Dec. 9 sued Facebook over antitrust concerns akin to those raised by the FTC. Consumers are being harmed by the absence of competition, the states alleged.

A Colorado-led state attorneys' group is expected to file a separate antitrust case against Google this week.

House Democrats after a long investigation recently concluded that Apple exerts monopoly power through its App store and Amazon holds monopoly powers over third-party sellers on its site.

These and other recommendations against Google and Facebook could result in legislative proposals. Meanwhile, there is a move by Republican senators to restrict the Communications Decency Act Section 230 which protects digital platforms from responsibility for the online activities of their users.

A request by the Trump administration to revisit the main elements of Section 230 is being reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission for the same reasons as given by Senate Republicans.