SoylentNews

AnonTechie [soylentnews.org] writes:

The US Department of Justice is preparing to kick off an antitrust investigation of Google, according to a report late Friday by The Wall Street Journal [wsj.com] [Pay Walled]. The department is expected to examine Google's search practices, as well as its other businesses, the report said. Though the Federal Trade Commission investigated Google several years ago, this time it'll step aside for the DOJ to conduct the inquiry.

After a two-year investigation wrapped up in 2013, the FTC decided unanimously that Google wasn't violating any antitrust laws, after allegations of biased search results. The DOJ's antitrust division "has been laying the groundwork for the probe" over the last few weeks, the Journal said. Neither Google nor the Justice Department immediately responded to a request for comment.

The move by the Justice Department comes as Google and other Silicon Valley giants face renewed antitrust scrutiny in the United States. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic 2020 presidential candidate, has made it a key part of her platform to break up the big tech companies, including Google, Facebook and Amazon. Earlier this month, Chris Hughes, a Facebook co-founder, also called for the breakup of the company he helped create. In February 2018, President Donald Trump had signalled via his Federal Trade Commission leadership choice that he was open to investigating big tech companies.

Google antitrust investigation [cnet.com]

Original Submission