State AGs Defend Our Economy, Democracy With Google Antitrust Investigation
Statement of Alex Harman, Competition Policy Advocate, Public Citizen
Note: Today, a bipartisan group of 50 state attorneys general formally announced an antitrust investigation into Google.
The time has come for the tech giants to be held accountable for violating our antitrust laws. Google’s anticompetitive behavior is a serious problem for our economy and our democracy, and the state attorneys general clearly get that. So it is welcome news that so many states are moving forward with their own investigation into Google, following those carried out by Congress, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
More investigative capacity is needed, and we expect this new investigation will uncover even more wrongdoing. Hopefully the states’ involvement also will put pressure on the DOJ and the FTC so that we avoid disappointing settlements that are nothing more than wrist slaps like the recent privacy cases coming out of the FTC.