‘This is big’: US lawmakers take aim at once-untouchable big tech

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The attorneys general of more than 30 US states took aim at Google this week with a new major antitrust lawsuit, accusing the tech company of illegally protecting a monopoly over its search business.

The lawsuit marks the third against Google in recent months and is the latest in a spate of antitrust actions by US states, the justice department and the Federal Trade Commission against powerful technology companies that until recently seemed all-but untouchable. Last week, Facebook was also hit by once-in-a-generation lawsuits that could ultimately break up the company.

“There’s not been a cluster of cases of this significance since the 1970s,” said William Kovacic, a law professor at George Washington University and a former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. “This is a big deal.”

More than 30 US states sue Google in third antitrust action of the autumn

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Thursday’s lawsuit against Google was filed by the attorneys general of 35 states, the District of Columbia and the territories of Guam and Puerto Rico.

They accuse Google of maintaining “de facto exclusivity” by striking deals with internet providers and computer companies such as Apple to make Google’s search engine the default on as many web browsers as possible. They also allege Google engaged in “discriminatory conduct” by limiting the ability of competitive search providers such as Yelp and TripAdvisor.

The states are requesting action be taken to prevent Google from continuing these anticompetitive practices, including potentially breaking up the company.

The case comes on the heels of two other major antitrust lawsuits against Google, one by the justice department and 11 states filed in October and one by 10 states filed earlier this week.

And it follows two long-anticipated lawsuits filed by the Federal Trade Commission and 48 states against Facebook last week that accused the social media giant of abusing its power in social networking to squash smaller competitors, and sought remedies that could include a forced spinoff of Instagram and WhatsApp.

This year’s antitrust actions marked the first time since the 1998 case against Microsoft that the US government accused a company of operating a monopoly under the Sherman Act, a law that dates back to 1890 encouraging competition between enterprises.

And they marked a stunning reversal for Silicon Valley, which for years had avoided clashes with Washington even as European regulators cracked down.

Yet this wave of antitrust cases wasn’t unexpected. Tech executives faced multiple grillings before the US Congress this year, with concerns over monopolistic behavior appearing in hearing after hearing.

Major social media firms such as Twitter, Google, Apple and Facebook came under fire from both Republicans and Democrats, albeit for opposite reasons.

The Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren and others made breaking up big tech a key issue in the 2020 elections and Donald Trump frequently criticized tech companies on his Twitter account.

Also significant is the approach of the states, whose lawsuits have stretched beyond the cases made by federal competition enforcers and leveled bold new claims. States from across the country are weighing in with different visions of how they believe companies like Google and Facebook are abusing their immense power in ways that harm other businesses, innovation and even consumers who find their services indispensable.

Though the cases against big tech firms are piling up quickly, it will take some time to see any substantial action taken.

Court dates for the Department of Justice case have been tentatively set for September 2023, a judge said in a hearing on Friday. Once the case goes to trial it could last anywhere from five to 12 weeks, lawyers involved estimated. This means it will be years before we even see the case argued, let alone see Google or Facebook have to spin off or break up its subsidiaries.

Google on Thursday refuted that it has a monopoly in the search space, arguing that courts in other countries have dismissed such charges in previous cases. The company plans to fight the case in court, said Adam Cohen, the director of Economic Policy at Google, in a statement.

“We know that scrutiny of big companies is important and we’re prepared to answer questions and work through the issues,” Cohen said. “But this lawsuit seeks to redesign Search in ways that would deprive Americans of helpful information and hurt businesses’ ability to connect directly with customers.”

Some of Google’s rival companies mentioned in the suit, however, welcomed it.

The review site Yelp praised Thursday’s action, saying Google had long used its dominance online to keep users in a “walled garden” of Google products.

“We hope today’s action will begin to restore an internet that thrives on meritocracy and rewards innovation,” Yelp said in a statement.

Travel site Tripadvisor similarly praised the case, which it called “a win for consumers”.

“[The charges] provide the framework for meaningful action to stop Google from leveraging its gatekeeper position to benefit its owned services and increase its profits at the expense of competition and consumers,” said Seth Kalvert, Tripadvisor’s senior vice-president and general council.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.