The initiative is led by the Attorney General of Texas, alongside all other 49 states.
Background: Antitrust authorities have intensified their scrutiny of the digital economy, particularly of large tech companies potentially able to form monopolies. While Europe has led the way, US authorities and policymakers have also turned their attention to these issues over the last two years. In particular, the Federal Trade Commission has been running extensive hearings on “Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century”.
Attorney Generals coalesce: This week, attorney generals from all 50 US states, led by the AG of Texas, launched a “bipartisan” investigation into Google’s business practices. The reason for the inquiry is very telling: the AG claims there is evidence that Google’s behaviour “may have undermined consumer choice, stifled innovation, violated users’ privacy, and put Google in control of the flow and dissemination of online information”, and refers to the actions carried out by the European Commission. The AG for Texas had already filed formal comments to the FTC in June, alongside 41 other AGs, urging the regulator to consider the role of consumer privacy and data in antitrust enforcement.
Facebook is also under scrutiny: The Google probe followed a similar initiative against Facebook, led by the New York Attorney General together with AGs of nine more states (Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and the District of Columbia). Unsurprisingly, the New York AG uses an argument similar to that against Google, aiming to determine whether Facebook “may have endangered consumer data, reduced the quality of consumers’ choices, or increased the price of advertising”. The time frame of both inquiries is currently unclear.
