State Attorneys General Teaming Up On Antitrust Probes Of Facebook And Google

(USA Today) Mike Snider Sept. 6 2019 11:13 a.m. Tech giants Facebook and Google are facing more scrutiny into their business practices. A multi-state antitrust investigation led by New York State Attorney General Letitia James is focusing on Facebooks dominance in the industry and the potential anticompetitive conduct stemming from that dominance she said Friday. Other states involved in the bipartisan initiative says James who is a Democrat include the attorneys general of Colorado Florida Iowa Nebraska North Carolina Ohio Tennessee and the District of Columbia. Another collective of states led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton plans to announce the launch of a multi-state investigation into whether large tech companies have engaged in anticompetitive behavior that stifled competition restricted access and harmed consumers the attorney generals office announced Friday. That probe which will be announced Monday outside the U.S. Supreme Court will include an investigation of Google and its sway in the digital advertising market The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. About three dozen state attorneys general are signed on The Journal reported citing persons knowledgeable of the situation. Both of the tech companies said they would work with state officials on their concerns. Googles services help people every day create more choice for consumers and support thousands of jobs and small businesses across the country the company said in a statement sent to USA TODAY. We look forward to working with the attorneys general to answer questions about our business and the dynamic technology sector. People have multiple choices for every one of the services we provide. We understand that if we stop innovating people can easily leave our platform. This underscores the competition we face not only in the U.S. but around the globe said Will Castleberry Facebooks vice president for state and local policy in a statement sent to USA TODAY.