The heat has steadily risen for Big Tech over the last few years, and it appears, at least for Google, that the hot water has reached a boiling point. Google’s day of reckoning may finally be upon us.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed its long-anticipated antitrust lawsuit against Google in the Washington D.C District Court on Tuesday, following more than a year of investigations.
The complaint alleged that Google is “unlawfully maintaining monopolies in the markets for general search services, search advertising, and general search text advertising in the United States through anticompetitive and exclusionary practices,” and the United States Department of Justice and 11 states have sought a remedy from the court to the effects of this conduct.
The lawsuit further alleges that “Google’s anticompetitive practices are especially pernicious because they deny rivals scale to compete effectively. General search services, search advertising, and general search text advertising require complex algorithms that are constantly learning which organic results and ads best respond to user queries; the volume, variety, and velocity of data accelerates the automated learning of search and search advertising algorithms.”
The attorneys general from several states, including Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina and Texas have joined the lawsuit.
“Today’s lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed,” a Google spokeswoman told The Wall Street Journal. “People use Google because they choose to—not because they’re forced to or because they can’t find alternatives.”
Republican lawmakers are thrilled with the news. “Today’s lawsuit is the most important antitrust case in a generation. Google and its fellow Big Tech monopolists exercise unprecedented power over the lives of ordinary Americans, controlling everything from the news we read to the security of our most personal information. And Google in particular has gathered and maintained that power through illegal means,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said in a statement to Fox News.
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) said in a tweet, “Google’s anticompetitive conduct is harming the public and American business. I commend the Department for finally holding Google accountable. When it comes to big tech, this is just the beginning. Winter is coming.”
Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) praised the efforts of Attorney General William Barr, tweeting: “Big Tech’s out to get conservatives. Attorney General Barr won’t let them get away with it.”
Conservatives are under attack. Contact Google at 1-650-253-0000 and demand that the platform provide transparency: Companies need to design open systems so that they can be held accountable, while giving weight to privacy concerns. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
