US hits Google with biggest antitrust lawsuit in two decades
- Lawsuit calls tech giant ‘the unchallenged gateway to the internet for billions of users’ and seeks to ‘restore competition’
- Case is comparable to 1998 suit against Microsoft and 1974 suit against AT&T
The US Justice Department and 11 states filed an antitrust lawsuit against Alphabet Inc’s Google on Tuesday for allegedly breaking the law in using its market power to fend off rivals, and called for action.
The lawsuit marks the biggest antitrust case in a generation, comparable to the lawsuit against Microsoft filed in 1998 and the 1974 case against AT&T, which led to the break-up of the Bell System.
The lawsuit claims that Google acted unlawfully to maintain its position in search and search advertising on the internet. It states that “absent a court order, Google will continue executing its anticompetitive strategy, crippling the competitive process, reducing consumer choice, and stifling innovation.
“Google is now the unchallenged gateway to the internet for billions of users worldwide … For the sake of American consumers, advertisers, and all companies now reliant on the internet economy, the time has come to stop Google’s anticompetitive conduct and restore competition.”
When asked on a conference call what specific action should be taken, a Justice Department official said, “Nothing is off the table.”