Big Tech’s day of reckoning has finally arrived.
Both of the major antitrust enforcement agencies of the executive branch of the federal government are stepping into the fray, with the Department of Justice reportedly preparing for an investigation of Google parent Alphabet, Inc. and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) doing the same for social media giant Facebook.
The decision by President Trump and Attorney General William Barr to clear their regulators for action is a watershed moment, both in the history of antitrust law and in the evolution of Silicon Valley’s relationship with American society. After years in which the Obama administration delayed and thwarted any major action against the Big Tech companies, the decision has apparently even shamed some House Democrats into playing along.
This change of tack is long overdue; Google and Facebook are undoubtedly massive, manipulative monopolies.
Google controls roughly 90 percent of the online search market. Three quarters of mobile and 70 percent of desktop web browsing takes place on Google software, and its YouTube subsidiary has completely dominated the user-generated streaming video market virtually unchallenged since its inception.
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