The US government is gearing up to investigate whether Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple misuse their massive market power, sources told Reuters. The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, which enforce competition laws in the US, have divided oversight over the four companies, two sources said, with Amazon and Facebook under the watch of the FTC, and Apple and Google under the Justice Department. Meanwhile, Congress also announced its own investigation.
This is in line with earlier reports that the the DoJ is preparing to look at Google search services. The FTC already started an investigation of Facebook in 2018 to check its compliance with privacy protection rules.
With jurisdiction established, the next step is for the two federal agencies to decide if they want to open formal competition investigations. Several lawmakers have called for closer scrutiny of the tech giants, with some even going so far as to say the companies should be broken up.
Congressional investigation
Separately, the House Judiciary Committee in the US Congress announced an investigation into competition in digital markets. The investigation will include a series of hearings held by the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law on the rise of market power online, as well as requests for information that are relevant to the investigation.The committee said in a statement a "small number of dominant, unregulated platforms have extraordinary power over commerce, communication, and information online". The Congress members are concerned that these platforms "have the incentive and ability to harm the competitive process". This is the first time Congress has undertaken an investigation into this behavior.
The investigation will focus on three main areas: documenting competition problems in digital markets; examining whether dominant firms are engaging in anti-competitive conduct; and assessing whether existing antitrust laws, competition policies, and current enforcement levels are adequate to address these issues.
