Yet another investigation is being launched into major tech companies--primarily Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple--that aims to cover a range of issues that include matters critical to the book world.
A group of state attorneys general, representing as many as 20 states and both sides of the political divide, are setting up an investigation of the tech giants, the Wall Street Journal reported. The joint investigation will be announced as soon as next month and "is likely to focus on whether a handful of dominant technology platforms use their marketplace powers to stifle competition" in a range of areas, including advertising, search functions, social media, app sales and retail.
Representatives of at least a dozen state attorneys general have met with representatives of the Justice Department, according to the Journal. Besides stifling competition, the attorneys general want to investigate the tech companies' control of personal data, whether they are monopolies, their effect on free speech, and more.
In July, the Justice Department announced that it is investigating the four big tech companies, "examining the practices of online platforms that dominate internet search, social media and retail services," the Journal wrote.
In a statement about the investigation, Justice Department antitrust chief Makan Delrahim said: "Without the discipline of meaningful market-based competition, digital platforms may act in ways that are not responsive to consumer demands. The department's antitrust review will explore these important issues."
The Justice Department investigation is being coordinated with a Federal Trade Commission investigation of the four tech giants on similar grounds.
At his Senate confirmation hearing early this year, Attorney General William Barr said, "I don't think big is necessarily bad, but I think a lot of people wonder how such huge behemoths that now exist in Silicon Valley have taken shape under the nose of the antitrust enforcers. You can win that place in the marketplace without violating the antitrust laws, but I want to find out more about that dynamic."
As the Journal noted, "While the top tech firms were once the darlings of the public, attitudes have shifted as some consumers, and politicians on both the left and the right have grown uncomfortable with how much power and influence they wield in the economy and society."