WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden government should expand antitrust lawsuits against Google and Facebook from Alphabet and separate companies, according to a group whose founder works with the president’s transition team.
The American Economic Liberties Project, an influential anti-monopoly group in Washington, has issued a report guiding antitrust enforcers in the next government. The group is led by Sarah Miller, who works with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team and who has helped make anti-trust enforcement against Big Tech a major issue.
The report’s recommendations provide a look at the thinking that may influence future policy-making under Biden’s government.
The group is appealing to the U.S. Department of Justice to make it clear that it will continue antitrust action against Google by expanding the scope of the lawsuit beyond the maps, travel and its app store.
The Justice Department sued Google on October 20, accusing the $ 1 trillion company of dominating search and advertising. In December, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Facebook, saying the company was using a “buy or bury” strategy to hurt competitors.
The report calls on the Biden government to appoint aggressive antitrust divisions from the Justice Department and the FTC and urges Biden’s nominated attorney general, Merrick Garland, “to commit to a Google breach. search.”
“The anti-monopoly movement is very young … We wanted to set out a vision that could bring people together in a new government and use it as a clear roadmap for not only what is possible but also what is needed. “Miller told Reuters.
Supporters of this view want monitoring application to move away from the prevailing standard, which only looks at whether consumers benefit from lower prices.
The report encourages antitrust agencies to challenge mergers involving a powerful buyer and calls on regulators not to enter settlements with businesses that do not require them to admit violations.
Among other recommendations, it wants to eliminate the provisions of non-competition in work arrangements and end conflicts of interest by stopping companies from working on the same platform and competing. Amazon.com Inc, for example, operates a third-party, sales-driven market where it also competes.
The report also calls on the FTC to give priority to an antitrust case against Amazon to hurt competitors.
Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; Edited by Cynthia Osterman