Justice Department Opens Antitrust Review of Big Tech Companies

By: Sean Walton

The Justice Department is opening an investigation into big tech corporations for alleged anti-trust violations. The department released a statement Tuesday, saying it will examine the practices of online platforms that dominate search results, social media and retail services.

While the statement didn’t say which companies are in the scope of the probe, sources say it will review new threats posed by Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple.

The move marks the latest effort by Attorney General William Barr to take on the tech giants, which is an issue he has focused on since taking office earlier this year.

“I am for vigorous enforcement of our antitrust laws in order to preserve competition, and — as I said — this is going to be an area I’m going to want to get into,” stated Barr. “The thing I’m concerned about are the network effects that are now at work…they’re so powerful that particular sectors could essentially be subsumed into these networks…they are just very powerful network effects because of their size.”

Similar inquiries are underway in Congress and at the Federal Trade Commission, which shares antitrust oversight responsibilities with the Justice Department.

The action is the clearest sign yet that the longtime arguments that helped shield the tech giants from antitrust scrutiny are eroding. Since the 1970s, a consensus in antitrust circles has been that if companies were focused on consumer welfare — for example, by offering low prices — they were not likely to attract federal intervention. Since companies like Google and Facebook largely provide free services, the thinking went, they were not subject to federal antitrust examination.

But that approach has evolved, pushed by scholars and others, as concerns about the clout and reach of Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple have grown. The Justice Department has recently been meeting with tech industry experts to learn what kinds of harm the companies may have caused, said two people with knowledge of the talks, who spoke on the condition they not be identified because the meetings were confidential.

Shares of Facebook, Alphabet and Amazon fell more than a full percentage point following the announcement, although the scope of the probe remains unknown.

••••

••••

Stay tuned to …

••••

The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)

••••

Comment Policy: As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, or personal/abusive attacks on other users. This also applies to trolling, the use of more than one alias, or just intentional mischief. Enforcement of this policy is at the discretion of this websites administrators. Repeat offenders may be blocked or permanently banned without prior warning.

••••

Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.

••••

Disclaimer: The information and opinions shared are for informational purposes only including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are not intended as medical advice or instruction. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.