State AGs Prepare Antitrust Investigation on High-Tech Companies



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The highest law enforcement officials in several states are preparing to launch an antitrust investigation of the largest companies in Silicon Valley, according to many reports, adding that federal regulators are already facing high-tech companies technology.

The investigation is expected to begin as early as next month and would follow a meeting between state officials and antitrust officials from the Justice Department last month.

A group of state attorneys general plans to launch civil investigation applications in the near future with technology companies. The survey will investigate whether the most powerful companies in Silicon Valley have eliminated competition in the technology sector.

It is not clear how many states are expected to participate and whether it will be a bipartite group, but the the Wall Street newspaper reported not less than 20 attorneys general could join the effort.

After last month's meeting at the Department of Justice, the Texas Attorney General's Office, Ken Paxton, said that a group of eight Attorneys General of the United States had met with Attorney General William Barr to discuss "the genuine consumer concerns across the country with big tech companies a stifling competition on the Internet. "

Paxton's office said states "are considering a range of possible antitrust actions against such companies".

A survey of large state-owned technology firms would be conducted in parallel with investigations by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission into the anticompetitive behavior of large Internet companies.

The Ministry of Justice said last month that he had open a comprehensive antitrust analysis of "market-leading online platforms", which should include Amazon, Facebook and Google. In February, the Federal Trade Commission launched a technology working group to monitor competition in the technology sector and investigate any potential anti-competitive behavior.

The Commission also opened an antitrust investigation on Facebook, the social media company recognized in last month's financial reports.

The federal government's investigations go hand in hand with congressional efforts to examine the practices of some of the country's largest technology companies.

To address the growing dominance of Silicon Valley companies and whether they have ruled out their smaller competitors from the market, Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic presidential candidate of 2020, called for the dissolution of Facebook, Amazon and Google, while that Senator Ted Cruz, of Texas, has proposed antitrust action against the big tech companies.

FTC commissioner Joe Simons told Bloomberg last week that he consider canceling past acquisitions made by high-tech companies to foster competition and control their power.

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