Facebook is being hit with antitrust investigations by eight states and DC. Also, 48 US states are launching an antitrust investigation into Google. Antitrust laws, also referred to as competition laws, are regulations that monitor the distribution of economic power in business, making sure that healthy competition is allowed to flourish and economies can grow.
These investigations on Google will focus on whether Google is overly dominant in online advertising and in internet searches. One outcome of these investigations might be forcing Google to spin off search as a separate company. Google is being accused of driving out smaller advertising companies. Many smaller advertisers have argued that Google has such a stranglehold on the market that it becomes a system of whatever Google says, goes because the alternative could be not reaching customers. Google holds a lot of power in setting rates and favoring their own services over others; however, Google states that their business is large and provides useful and beneficial services to their customers. Google has the power to make it inefficient and inconvenient for advertisers to use any other platform. They get too pick winners and losers because the system is rigged in their favor.
The investigation on Facebook is expected to focus on the apps impact on advertising prices, data and consumer privacy and the company’s previous acquisitions, including Instagram and WhatsApp. Facebook is even getting backlash for fake news being spread. Facebook has taken steps in order to kill the backlash by updating its policies; however, there is a new loophole where you can spread fake news through groups and private messaging. Facebook has been promoting groups feature throughout the platform. The problem is that it also attracts private groups to spread disinformation. People don’t know what is truth and what is fake news!
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