California, the home state of Silicon Valley, reportedly opened an antitrust investigation against Internet giant Google on Tuesday. Until today, California joined Alabama as the only states not investigating Google’s business practices.
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan demanded Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey disclose documents and information relating to the social media giants’ censorship practices, the decision to fact-check President Donald Trump, and flagging the president’s tweets as abusive behavior, according to a document obtained by Breitbart News.
State attorneys general met with the Justice Department on Friday to make preparations for an anticipated antitrust case against Google. However, sources say that search bias — which is crucial to Google’s ability to sway elections and control the flow of political information — is not yet a major part of the DoJ’s case.
Germany’s top court ruled against social media giant Facebook in an antitrust case related to the company’s collection of user data. The court affirmed the findings of Germany’s antitrust watchdog, which ruled that Facebook abused its market dominance to harvest data from users across multiple platforms.
Officials from the DOJ and some state attorneys general are reportedly set to meet on Friday to discuss an antitrust probe of Google.
Just days after Basecamp co-founder and CTO David Heinemeier Hansson stated that a handful of companies like Google and Facebook have “colonized the web, and they’re choking it,” Hansson found his new email app banned from Apple’s app store.
Microsoft President Brad Smith has called for antitrust regulators to focus on rival tech giant Apple in a recent interview.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) described the world’s largest technology companies — naming Google, Facebook, and Twitter — as “monopolies,” adding that she and her colleagues are considering the use of antitrust laws and reevaluation of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) to address their shared political censorship and shaping of information access.
Basecamp co-founder and CTO David Heinemeier Hansson, who created the popular “Ruby on Rails” web application framework, discussed the state of the modern internet in a recent interview, stating that a handful of companies like Google and Facebook have “colonized the web, and they’re choking it.” According to Hansson, “We need stringent and overdue legislation, we need to break up monopolies, and we need to give consumers better alternatives.”
A recent investigation from ProPublica reveals that while brands have previously been able to bid for the top slot in Amazon’s search listings, the e-commerce giant has begun using the position for its own private-label items, raising antitrust concerns.
According to a recent report, search engine DuckDuckGo’s CEO says that federal and state authorities are asking detailed questions targeting Google’s overwhelming dominance of the search market.
E-commerce giant Amazon reportedly refuses to make company CEO Jeff Bezos available for testimony in Congress, instead stating that it would “make the appropriate executive available” in response to requests from the House Judiciary Committee.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, officials at the Justice Department and a group of state attorneys general are focused on Google’s ad business and how it has used its search monopoly. According to the WSJ, the DOJ is planning to bring a case as early as this summer, while state AGs are likely to file a case in the fall.
Amazon founder, Washington Post owner and world’s richest man Jeff Bezos has been called before Congress to address charges that Amazon has potentially criminally misled the public over its use of data from third-party sellers on the platform.
President Donald Trump’s economic advisers are skeptical about rewriting antitrust rules to tackle the growing power of tech giants, according to the latest annual Economic Report of the President. The Council of Economic Advisers argue that the monopolistic power wielded by the Masters of the Universe are signs of “competitive success.”
A recent report claims that the DOJ is ramping up its investigation into Silicon Valley tech giant Google, focusing heavily on the company’s ad tools.
Tech giant Google is facing yet another E.U. antitrust investigation just months after being fined $1.7 billion for violations. This investigation focuses on the company’s “collection and use of data” from users.
The US Justice Department signaled Monday that it plans to end a 71-year-old antitrust enforcement program on movie distribution, saying it is no longer needed to protect consumers.
The multistate antitrust probe of Google will reportedly not just include the company’s advertising business but will expand into the firm’s search and Android mobile OS products.
European antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager reportedly stated during a recent conference that Google’s efforts to drive more traffic to European comparison shopping rivals have failed.
The online review site Yelp is ramping up its long-standing feud with Google, saying in a new report that the search engine’s monopoly is not only hurting Yelp but is also hurting innovation and consumer choice in the digital marketplace.
New court documents reveal that tech giant Facebook reportedly began cutting off access to user data for app developers in 2012 to squash potential rivals. The company internally called this the “Switcheroo Plan.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook stated in a recent interview that “no reasonable person would ever call Apple a monopolist.”
One of America’s largest media and communications companies, Comcast, has reportedly joined the regulatory fight against Google’s stranglehold on the online advertising market.
According to a recent report, the Justice Department is opening an antitrust investigation into the Masters of the Universe at Facebook.
A recent report from the Wall Street Journal alleges that Amazon altered its search algorithm to boost its own products, to the top.
As antitrust investigations into Google heat up, business owners are speaking out against one of the company’s ad practices, known as “conquesting.” Edible Arrangements CEO Tariq Farid says the practice is “killing” business for his franchisees, and Basecamp CEO Jason Fried called the tactic “a shakedown” and “ransom.”
Ken Paxton, the Attorney General of Texas, told SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Tonight this week that Google is largely unaffected by the recent $170 million fine they received from the Federal Trade Commission over charges that they illegally collected and shared data from children on YouTube. According to Paxton, “The FTC fine was pocket change for part of the day for Google.”
A group of FTC investigators has reportedly begun interviewing small businesses that sell products on Amazon to determine if the e-commerce giant is purposefully manipulating its market to hurt competitors, according to Bloomberg.
Louisiana Republican Attorney General (AG) Jeff Landry said during a press conference Monday that Google serves as an “existential threat” to the digital marketplace due to its dominance in the digital advertising and search markets.
State Attorneys General launched the largest, bipartisan antitrust investigation against Google Monday, encompassing nearly every state in the country.
The Washington Post reported Tuesday that more than half of the country’s attorneys general could announce an antitrust probe into Google as soon as next week.
A recent report states that EU antitrust regulators are beginning to question if Facebook’s Libra digital currency could cause antitrust issues.
Google’s job listing search tool has grown rapidly in popularity in recent months, but 23 rival job-finding sites are questioning the antitrust implications of the service.
Google will allow its European Android users to choose their own search engines, starting in 2020. The process will also include the tech giant charging its competitors, who will bid to be included as one of the default options alongside Google on the display screen that Android users will see when choosing their search engine.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday announced it is opening a review into whether the United States’ biggest and most powerful technology companies have stifled competition or hurt consumers.
The E.U. has launched an antitrust investigation of e-commerce giant Amazon which could see the company fined as much as $23 billion.
Representatives from the Masters of the Universe at Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple are expected to appear at a congressional antitrust hearing taking place next week.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) stated in a recent interview that he believes Facebook is “expanding their monopoly” with its new Libra digital currency.
Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview on Wednesday that President Donald Trump and the Freedom Caucus continue to fight for the millions of forgotten men and women in Washinton, DC.
