US states attorneys to launch Facebook and Google antitrust probes

Top state law-enforcement officials across the United States are formally opening antitrust investigations into Facebook and Alphabet’s Google, confirming recent reports. New York’s attorney general Letitia James said her office is organising a bipartisan, multistate antitrust probe into whether Facebook stifled competition and put users at risk. “I’m launching an investigation into Facebook to determine whether their actions endangered consumer data, reduced the quality of consumers’ choices or increased the price of advertising,” said James, adding that “the largest social media platform in the world must follow the law.” The Facebook probe will include New York, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and the District of Columbia, said her office.

Separately, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office said it was launching a probe of “large tech companies” without yet naming them. That probe is likely to include more than 40 state attorneys general and is expected to focus on Google, according to unnamed sources cited by Reuters. Paxton’s office did reveal that details of the inquiry would be disclosed at a news conference on 09 September and that it would be “a multistate investigation into whether large tech companies have engaged in anticompetitive behaviour that stifled competition, restricted access and harmed consumers.”

Another report in Wall Street Journal indicated that the attorneys are set to mainly look into Google’s impact on digital advertising markets. Google's SVP Global Affairs, Kent Walker said in a statement that the company had answered many questions on issues about its business over the years, in the US and abroad, "so this is not new for us". 

Google and Facebook, together with Amazon and Apple, are already the subject of another antitrust review at a federal level by the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission. Google's Walker confirmed the DoJ had questioned the company and said it expects the same from the states' investigation. "We look forward to showing how we are investing in innovation, providing services that people want, and engaging in robust and fair competition," he said.