US Justice Department sues Google in Antitrust Case
Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Technology; Internet
In news
Recently, the US Justice Department sued Google.
It has accused the company of illegally abusing its dominance in internet search.
It has been harming competitors and consumers.
Key takeaways
The action against the company comes after a report by the US House of Representatives panel.
The panel had found that Google, Facebook Inc, Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc all abused their power as gatekeepers in the digital economy to diminish competitive threats.
Google is illegally protecting its dominant position in the market for search and search advertising through the deals it has signed with tech companies.
Google has contracts with smartphone makers that use its Android operating system. These require them to install its search engine as the default.
All this stifles competition and innovation from smaller startups and harms consumers by reducing the quality of search and limiting privacy protections and alternative search options.
Do you know?
Many countries have broad laws that protect consumers and regulate how companies operate their businesses.
The goal of these laws is to provide an equal playing field.
These are called antitrust laws.
Also, various antitrust probes are going on against Google in India.
Google has had run-ins with regulators, especially the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
