U.S. officials reportedly preparing multiple antitrust proceedings against Facebook and Google

Leading American IT companies are faced with various investigations into antitrust violations and are busy responding to defenses and proceedings. The Wall Street Journal reported that the United States and state governments are preparing proceedings against Facebook and Google for alleged new antitrust violations.

Facebook, Google to Face New Antitrust Suits in US --WSJ

DOJ is reportedly preparing antitrust lawsuits against Facebook and Google | Engadget
https://www.engadget.com/us-department-of-justice-antitrust-lawsuits-google-facebook-144659616.html

Google, Facebook facing more antitrust lawsuits in coming weeks | AppleInsider
https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/11/30/google-facebook-facing-more-antitrust-lawsuits-in-coming-weeks

Cases against Facebook are reportedly coming… when FTC decides how | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/11/ftc-divided-on-how-to-sue-facebook-for-antitrust-violations-reports-find/

It has been strongly pointed out in recent years that 'giant tech companies are monopolizing the market and hindering the activities of their competitors.' CEOs of Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple attended the hearing of the US House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee held in July 2020, and answered questions about antitrust law from lawmakers.

Whether Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple are sweeping rivals and monopolizing the market, each CEO's remark is like this --GIGAZINE

And in October 2020, the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Google on suspicion of antitrust law. The Justice Department argued that Google was sued: 'Preventing Google from illegally maintaining a monopoly in the search and search advertising market through anti-competitive and exclusive practices, and correcting competitive harm. To do it. '

Google is sued by the Justice Department for 'antitrust violations'-GIGAZINE

by Thomas Hawk

The Wall Street Journal reported that up to four new antitrust proceedings have been prepared against Google and Facebook. The proceedings may be filed in the coming weeks to the end of January 2020.

The details of the proceedings are unknown, but the series of proceedings is different from the proceedings filed by the US Department of Justice against Google in October. In a lawsuit in October, the Justice Department claimed that Google had signed a contract with smartphone makers and others to give priority to the search service and maintained its monopoly position by abusing its superiority. Meanwhile, a coalition of U.S. state prosecutors allegedly preparing a new proceeding is considering a proceeding over the interference of competitors in the online advertising market related to Google's acquisition of advertising business and ad distribution company DoubleClick. It is said that there is.

Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is preparing an antitrust litigation against Facebook, arguing that acquisitions such as Instagram and WhatsApp have curtailed competition and violated antitrust law. It is said that. If the FTC filed a proceeding, it would be the first time US government officials have filed an antitrust proceeding against Facebook.

According to tech media Ars Technica, there are two options for the FTC to file a proceeding, either in federal court or internally in the FTC to an administrative law judge . If you file a proceeding in federal court, you can work with other law enforcement agencies, but if you handle the proceedings within the FTC, the FTC itself does not leave the enforcement of antitrust law to the Department of Justice. Ars Technica points out that it can appeal to have the legal function of.

Apple Insider, which handles Apple-related news, said the new proceedings against Google and Facebook are also a cause for concern for Apple and Amazon. For Apple and Amazon, which have been investigating antitrust law for some time, an increase in antitrust proceedings against other major IT companies could signal the start of proceedings against them, Apple Insider said. ..