Like Europe before it, the U.S. government looks ready to try reining in its technology giants. But doing so may be more difficult than it seems.
of major technology companies and whether their online platforms have hurt competition, suppressed innovation or otherwise harmed consumers.
The terse but momentous announcement follows months of concern in Congress and elsewhere over the sway of firms like Google, Facebook and Amazon. Lawmakers and Democratic presidential candidates have called for stricter regulation or even breakups of the big tech companies, which have drawn intense scrutiny following scandals involving compromised user privacy, security lapses and misinformation and extremism that flourished on their platforms.
But Big Tech could also present a difficult target, as current interpretations of U.S. antitrust law don’t obviously apply to companies offering inexpensive goods or free online services. The Justice Department did not name specific companies in its announcement. Traditional antitrust law focuses on dominant businesses that harm consumers, typically defined as price-gouging and similar behaviors. But many tech companies offer free products that are paid for by a largely invisible trade in the personal data gleaned from those services. Others like Amazon offer consistently low prices on a wide array of merchandise.Herbert HovenkampBeyond that, the companies could face scrutiny for buying up smaller rivals that might be a threat to their business.
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