The Justice Department is launching a sweeping antitrust review into whether online platforms are reducing competition or stifling innovation, the latest development in the ballooning Washington scrutiny of the power wielded by companies like Google and Facebook.
The DOJ’s antitrust division, which announced the review today, said in a news release that it will look into "the widespread concerns that consumers, businesses, and entrepreneurs have expressed about search, social media, and some retail services online.
" The release doesn't mention Google, Facebook and Amazon by name but says antitrust officials are seeking information from “industry participants who have direct insight into competition in online platforms.”“Without the discipline of meaningful market-based competition, digital platforms may act in ways that are not responsive to consumer demands,” Justice Department antitrust chief Makan Delrahim said in a statement. “The Department’s antitrust review will explore these important issues.”
The review is the latest sign of trouble for Silicon Valley. The Justice Department and the FTC, which both police antitrust, recently divvied up jurisdiction of major tech companies, laying the groundwork for potential DOJ probes into whether Google or Apple constitute monopolies and FTC investigations into the same for Facebook and Amazon.
The newly announced investigation appears to be an even broader review of the competitive impact of the country's biggest tech companies.
The House Judiciary Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee also has its own antitrust investigation into the country’s largest tech companies.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine