US Justice Department is Considering Breakup of Google
Google facilities in Mountain View, California. Photo: X/ @OSINTEireann
August 14, 2024 Hour: 9:41 am
Authorities stated that Google violated antitrust law, spending billions of dollars to create an illegal monopoly.
A bid to break up Alphabet Inc.’s Google is being considered by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) after a landmark court ruling found that the company has monopolized the online search market.
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“The move would be Washington’s first push to dismantle a company for illegal monopolization since unsuccessful efforts to break up Microsoft Corp. two decades ago,” said Bloomberg on Tuesday.
“Less severe options include forcing Google to share more data with competitors and measures to prevent it from gaining an unfair advantage in AI products, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations,” it said.
“Justice Department officials are considering what remedies to ask a federal judge to order against the search giant. They are discussing various proposals, including breaking off parts of Google, such as its Chrome browser or Android smartphone operating system,” said the New York Times.
Other scenarios under consideration include forcing Google to make its data available to rivals, or mandating that it abandon deals that made its search engine the default option on devices like the iPhone. The government is meeting with other companies and experts to discuss their proposals for limiting Google’s power, according to the report.
U.S. Federal antitrust regulators have sued Meta Platforms, Amazon and Apple in the past four years, claiming the companies illegally maintained monopolies. Microsoft had settled with the DOJ in 2004 on claims it forced its Internet Explorer Web browser on Windows users.
“The verdict, delivered last week, held that Google violated antitrust law, spending billions of dollars to create an illegal monopoly and become the world’s default search engine. The ruling is seen as the first big win for federal authorities taking on the market dominance of Big Tech,” commented Reuters.
teleSUR/ JF Source: Xinhua